Abstract: A method, apparatus and system for medium access control is provided. Time slots configured to include mini slots at the beginnings thereof. Devices are assigned time slot, mini slot combinations as transmission opportunities. A device can attempt to use a transmission opportunity when it has a packet to send, by beginning data transmission in its assigned slot and mini slot and potentially continuing the transmission up until the end of the assigned slot. If another device is already transmitting in the assigned slot, the device refrains from using its transmission opportunity. Higher priority devices can be assigned transmission opportunities corresponding to earlier mini slots within a slot. In some embodiments, multiple devices can be assigned the same transmission opportunity and a collision detection mechanism can be employed. In some embodiments, all devices detect if a slot is idle and advance the beginning of the next slot upon such detection.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for filtering molten metal (M), such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy includes at least one ceramic foam filter or any other type of filtration media such as porous tube or alumina balls disposed in a receptacle (12) for the molten metal (M). A vibrator vibrates at least one of the filter, the receptacle (12) or the metal and may be used to induce priming, filtering and/or drainage of the filter. The vibrator may be retrofitted to an existing filter system and may be adjustable in frequency and amplitude. The vibration may be continuous over a given period or produced in a single shock.

Abstract: Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a deep-learning-based framework for designing components of a downlink precoding system. The components of such a system include downlink training pilots and channel estimation based on receipt of the downlink training pilots. Another component involves channel measurement and feedback strategy at the user equipment. The components include a precoding scheme designed at the base station based on the feedback from the user equipment.

Abstract: A method to obtain a cache miss ratio curve where a memory blocks of a cache have variable block sizes. By stacking sets of counters, each set being for a different block size, a stack distance for variable block sizes can be obtained and used to determine a miss ratio curve. Such curve can then be used to select a cache size that is appropriate for an application without requiring excessive memory. Methods can be used for batches of request, can apply limits to block sizes, and rounding for intermediary block sizes, they can be used with pruning, and their space complexity can be held constant.

Abstract: For a given application, increasing the size of a cache is beneficial up to a certain point and the number of hits does not increase significantly with a greater cache size. This disclosure provides a method to determine a miss ratio curve, for a cache having data blocks with a time-to-live. A hashed value of a data block's key address can be used to generate a 2D HLL counter for storing expiry times of the data blocks. The 2D HLL counter can be converted to a 1D array, from which a stack distance can be calculated. A frequency distribution of stack distances can then be converted into a miss ratio curve, from which an appropriate cache size can be selected.

Abstract: The present invention relates to highly polarizable 3D organic perovskites of the general formula ABX3, prepared by introducing halogen functional groups in the A-site cation (in which the A and B sites are occupied by organic cations and the X site is a monovalent non-metallic counterion). The (DCl)(NH4)(BF4)3 crystal exhibits a strong linear electrooptic (EO) effect with an effective EO coefficient of 20 pmV?1, which is 10 times higher than that of metal halide perovskites. These 3D organic perovskites are solution processed and compatible with silicon, and illustrate the potential of rationally-designed all-organic perovskites for use in on-chip modulators, electro-optic devices, piezoelectric devices, or silicon photonics devices.

Abstract: An optical fiber comprises a core having an elliptical cross section and a cladding having a circular cross section. The core has an aspect ratio between 2 and 40. The core and the cladding have a common central axis with the core being enclosed by the cladding. The difference of a refractive index of the cladding to a refractive index of the core is between 1×10?2 and 1.5×10?1. A trench is located between the core and the cladding. The trench has a uniform width and encircles the core. The refractive index of the trench is lower than the refractive index of the cladding.

Abstract: A method is disclosed of mounting a heat sink through a printed circuit board to reach a component on the opposite side of a board. The heat sink is passed through a window in the board to contact a component at a predetermined pressure optimized for thermal performance at minimum stress. The heat sink is affixed in place on the printed circuit board using through-hole pins which can be soldered to maintain the heat sink's position and the predetermined pressure.

Abstract: Systems and methods for controlling smart motors. One smart motor system includes a control bus, an input device, and a smart motor communicatively coupled to the input device via the control bus. The smart motor includes an electronic processor configured to receive, from the input device, a command frame indicating an action, perform the action, receive, from the input device, a data request frame requesting a status of the smart motor, and transmit, to the input device and in response to receiving the data request frame, a data frame indicating the status of the smart motor.

Abstract: In cloud computing, for various reasons such as load-balancing, hotspot elimination, server consolidation, energy and cost savings, and system maintenance, there is a need to migrate a virtual sub-network of virtual entities from a source network of servers to a destination set of servers. Existing migration methods are limited to the migration of VM memory and controller states, where network entities are migrated individually. Embodiments of this disclosure include systems and methods for the stateful live migration of a multi-layer network, while maintaining live state convergence and consistency, and preventing network connection losses, packet disordering and packet drops.

Abstract: According to a first aspect of the disclosure, methods are discussed in which a station (STA) sends a message to an access point, for example an associated access point, about a change in multi-AP coordination parameters. A STA, which may be a mobile STA, can be in a better position than the APs themselves, for detecting changes in conditions which can affect the effectiveness, or even the desirability of the multi-AP coordination. Accordingly the STA can send a message reporting detected conditions related to multi-AP coordination. In some embodiments, such a message can request for initializing multi-AP coordination, such a message can be in response to a triggering event detected by the STA. In response to such a triggering event, the STA can analyze the STA's service needs, and send the message about a change in multi-AP coordination parameters. A second aspect of the disclosure provides an AP-to-AP negotiation process for multi-AP coordination.

Abstract: A pneumatic massage system includes a source of pressurized air, a fluidic switching module in communication with the source of pressurized air, a first bladder in communication with the fluidic switching module, a second bladder in communication with the fluidic switching module, and a third bladder in communication with the fluidic switching module. The fluidic switching module is configured to direct air from the source of pressurized air to each of the first bladder, the second bladder, and the third bladder in a predefined sequence. The predefined sequence includes inflating the first bladder, inflating the second bladder while deflating the first bladder, and inflating the third bladder while deflating the second bladder.

Abstract: A photonic device configured to perform matrix vector multiplication operations at high frequencies is provided. The vector being multiplied by the matrix is defined by vector components at specific wavelengths. The device includes a first waveguide and a second waveguide. A series of tunable microring resonators (MRRs) are coupled to the first waveguide and to a respective series of passive delay rings (PDRs), which are coupled to the second waveguide. Each MRR/PDR pair defines a tunable matrix component (tunable weight) for a respective wavelength component of the vector. A series of controllable delay elements (CDEs) such as all-pass filters are coupled to the first waveguide, upstream from the tunable MRRs. Any tuning dependent group delay caused by the MRR/PDR pairs can be compensated by controlling the CDEs such that each wavelength components has substantially a same delay as the other wavelength components.

Abstract: A touch display device (TDD) configured to function with a pointing device (PD), and a method of operating the TDD. The TDD has a processor that automatically determines if the PD is in contact with a touch display (TD) of the TDD or with a surface distinct from the TD. When the PD is in contact with the TD, a toggling signal from the PD may be received at the processor to toggle from a first input mode where a tip of the PD overlaps a visual element displayed on the TD, to a second input mode with the tip of the PD is spaced apart from the displayed visual element. When the PD is in contact with the distinct surface, the processor automatically selects a third input mode where a position of the PD on the distinct surface is reproduced as a position the sign on the TD.

Abstract: Systems, methods and computer-readable media for selecting a trajectory for an autonomous vehicle are disclosed that include computing a current vehicle state for the autonomous vehicle based on observations by a sensing system; computing respective collision probability scores for a plurality of candidate trajectories based on the current vehicle state; computing respective information gain scores for the plurality of candidate trajectories based on the current vehicle state, the information gain score for each candidate trajectory indicating an respective information gain for a next planning horizon interval that is subsequent to the current planning horizon interval; and selecting a planned trajectory from the plurality of candidate trajectories based on the respective collision probability scores and respective information gain scores.

Abstract: Matrix multiplication is performed using a photonic computing block. Matrices are preprocessed to derive representative positive, real-valued matrices. The representative matrices are multiplied using a photonic computing block in which elements of a first matrix are encoded as a signal intensity and elements of a second matrix are encoded by tuning a spectral filter to apply a corresponding weight coefficient. Pairwise multiplications of matrix elements are performed by processing different wavelength components of an overall optical signal. A balanced photodiode receives the different wavelength components following manipulation in order to complete the multiplication. A matrix multiplication can be partitioned to fit a photonic computing block. The partitions are processed in parallel by multiple photonic computing blocks then reassembled into a final matrix. The multiplication operation can be part of a matrix inversion operation.

Abstract: Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a deep-learning-based framework for designing components of a downlink precoding system. The components of such a system include downlink training pilots and channel estimation based on receipt of the downlink training pilots. Another component involves channel measurement and feedback strategy at the user equipment. The components include a precoding scheme designed at the base station based on the feedback from the user equipment.

Abstract: A method for operating a reservoir computer includes receiving an input symbol and applying a time mask to the input symbol to produce a plurality of time multiplexed nodes. The method includes modulating, using the plurality of time nodes, a plurality of frequency channels to produce a plurality of frequency nodes and multiplexing the plurality of frequency nodes to produce a plurality of multiplexed frequency nodes. The method also includes coupling the multiplexed frequency nodes into a reservoir that includes a non-linear element and receiving a delayed plurality of time-frequency multiplexed nodes from the reservoir. The method also includes demultiplexing the delayed plurality of multiplexed frequency nodes to produce a plurality of delayed time nodes and modulating, using the plurality of delayed time nodes and the input time nodes, the plurality of frequency channels. The method further includes outputting a response based on the plurality of delayed time nodes.

Abstract: A fluid management system includes a housing having a central manifold in fluid communication with a source of pressurized fluid, a plurality of first ports in communication with the central manifold, a plurality of second ports in communication with the environment surrounding the housing, and a plurality of third ports each configured to be coupled to a vessel for containing the pressurized fluid. The fluid management system also includes a plurality of valves and a plurality of actuators, each actuator including a smart material and associated with one of the plurality of valves. In response to activation by an energy source, each actuator is configured to move the associated valve to one of a first position or a second position.

Abstract: A waveguide is coupled at both ends to a microring (MRR) modulator in order to form a Mach-Zehnder interferometer out of the resulting unit. The coupled waveguide can be modulated independently from the MRR modulator itself with either an in-resonance photoconductive heater or a geometrically suitable PN junction. During modulation with an applied voltage to the coupler, an independent modulation can be applied to the MRR in order to compensate for wavelength shifting. Ideal lengths for the coupler are identified, as well as a spiral configuration to reduce the coupler's footprint on a photonic integrated circuit. The resulting device has reduced cross-talk between channels of a cascaded MRR system. A second coupler can be coupled to each MRR symmetrically so as to reduce insertion losses, allowing for an increased weight range at the drop and through ports.