Abstract: An abradable liner for a gas turbine engine fan stage, comprising: a plurality of abradable layers bonded together, wherein at least one visual indicator is embedded in the plurality of abradable layers

Abstract: A tube picking mechanism is designed for use in an automated, ultra-low temperature (e.g. ?80° C. or ?135° C.) or cryogenic (e.g., about ?140° C. to ?196° C.) storage and retrieval system that stores biological or chemical samples. The samples are contained in storage tubes held in SBS footprint storage racks that are normally stored within an ultra-low temperature or cryogenic freezer compartment. The tube picking mechanism includes a tube picking chamber that is maintained at about ?80° C., about ?135° C. or at cryogenic temperatures in cryogenic applications. Active electrical and mechanical components are maintained in a compartment above and separate from the refrigerated, ultra-low temperature or cryogenic compartment.

Abstract: A power plant comprising: a rotor mounted for rotation; a rotor casing; and a rotor casing liner, comprising a plurality of sections, positioned between the rotor and the rotor casing; wherein at least one section of the plurality of sections of the rotor casing liner is sized to enable removal of the at least one section without adapting the rotor.

Abstract: Content servers are directed to send messages to network nodes which are used to obtain IP addresses and to receive responses from the network nodes. The responses provide network service information. The content servers collect data based on the responses and feed the data to a routing server. Based on the data fed to the routing server, respective choices of content servers are selected and provided to the network nodes to respond to clients requesting content server addresses from the network nodes.

Abstract: A power plant comprising: a rotor mounted for rotation; a rotor casing; and a rotor casing liner, comprising a plurality of sections, positioned between the rotor and the rotor casing; wherein at least one section of the plurality of sections of the rotor casing liner is sized to enable removal of the at least one section without adapting the rotor.

Abstract: A tube picking mechanism is designed for use in an automated, ultra-low temperature (e.g., ?80° C.) storage and retrieval systems which stores biological or chemical samples. The samples are contained in storage tubes held in SBS footprint storage racks that are loaded into trays located within an ultra-low temperature freezer compartment (?80° C.). A tube picking mechanism resides in a tube picking chamber that is located adjacent the freezer compartment. The tube picking chamber is maintained at about ?20° C. when the tube picking mechanism is in operation. The tube picking mechanism includes a cache within the tube picking chamber to facilitate fast paced shuttling of the tube racks from the freezer compartment into the tube picking chamber. The shuttle has a clamping mechanism to secure a tube rack in place when a gripper head picks a tube from the rack. The system also includes a push pin that pushes on the bottom of the respective tube as it is being picked from the tube rack.

Abstract: A tube picking mechanism is designed for use in an automated, ultra-low temperature (e.g. ?80° C. or ?135° C.) or cryogenic (e.g., about ?140° C. to ?196° C.) storage and retrieval system that stores biological or chemical samples. The samples are contained in storage tubes held in SBS footprint storage racks that are normally stored within an ultra-low temperature or cryogenic freezer compartment. The tube picking mechanism includes a tube picking chamber that is maintained at about ?80° C., about ?135° C. or at cryogenic temperatures in cryogenic applications. Active electrical and mechanical components are maintained in a compartment above and separate from the refrigerated, ultra-low temperature or cryogenic compartment.

Abstract: An automated storage and retrieval system stores containers, typically containing biological or chemical samples, at ultra-low temperatures, i.e., from about ?50° C. to about ?90° C., preferably about ?80° C. under normal operating conditions. A robot automatically places sample storage containers in stationary storage racks within the freezer compartment. Magnetic couplings are used to transmit mechanical power from outside of the freezer compartment to the robot inside of the freezer compartment. The robot has a simplified mechanical configuration.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a subnet mask is automatically determined by a first network node attached to a subnet in a packet communication network. The first network node issues plural communication packets from plural source addresses to at least one address known to be used in the subnet to evoke responses, and based on the presence or absence of responses from the network nodes at the known addresses, the first network node determines the subnet mask which represents the subnet.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention can resolve conflicts between candidate master network devices such as may be encountered in a failover condition. In a common type of failover protocol, two or more candidate master devices send messages to each other prior to a failover condition. A witness device (or process or service) also casts a vote to prevent a stalemate condition between the two candidate master devices that could lead to an error condition where multiple masters, or no masters, are elected.

Abstract: An automated storage and retrieval system stores containers, typically containing biological or chemical samples, at ultra-low temperatures, i.e., from about ?50° C. to about ?90° C., preferably about ?80° C. under normal operating conditions. Dry gas air flows are used to reduce moisture and the consequential frost within the freezer compartment. A custom insulated door is provided with an access module and a tube picking compartment as well as servo motors for controlling a robot within the ultra-low temperature freezer compartment. The robot automatically places sample storage containers in stationary storage racks within the freezer compartment. Magnetic couplings are used to transmit mechanical power from outside of the freezer compartment to the robot inside of the freezer compartment. The robot has a simplified mechanical configuration. The custom door can be readily attached to standard freezer bodies.

Abstract: A method, system and apparatus are provided for securely connecting a peripheral device to a processing device in a wireless network. The peripheral device makes a request for access to the processing device, which generates a challenge message and prompts a user to respond. The peripheral device is allowed access to the processing device, based on the user's response. If the user's response validates the challenge message, access is allowed; otherwise it is disallowed.

Abstract: A tube picking mechanism is designed for use in an automated, ultra-low temperature (e.g., ?80° C.) storage and retrieval systems which stores biological or chemical samples. The samples are contained in storage tubes held in SBS footprint storage racks that are loaded into trays located within an ultra-low temperature freezer compartment (?80° C.). A tube picking mechanism resides in a tube picking chamber that is located adjacent the freezer compartment. The tube picking chamber is maintained at about ?20° C. when the tube picking mechanism is in operation. The tube picking mechanism includes a cache within the tube picking chamber to facilitate fast paced shuttling of the tube racks from the freezer compartment into the tube picking chamber. The shuttle has a clamping mechanism to secure a tube rack in place when a gripper head picks a tube from the rack. The system also includes a push pin that pushes on the bottom of the respective tube as it is being picked from the tube rack.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a first network node in a subnet retrieves a network configuration from a second network node located outside the subnet. The first network node communicates with at least one other network node to collect information from inter-node communication packets containing network address information other than an address assignment to the first network node. The first network node determines an available network address based on the network address information contained in the collected inter-node communication packets. The first network node is assigned the available network address and locates a network address for at least one subnet router. The network node accesses the second network node located outside the subnet, using the located network address for the at least one subnet router, for an available network configuration from a list of network configurations. The first network node is assigned the available network configuration.

Abstract: A method, system and apparatus are provided for dynamically pre-positioning content from servers located in a network, which may be a content distribution network. The content is pre-positioned on a proxy server, and the pre-positioning is triggered by at least one of the scheduling of an event and the presence of a user. Users commuting between different locations of a company can quickly and easily access the pre-positioned content. This content may be prioritized and pre-positioned, based on a user requiring a specific content at a particular time.

Abstract: An automated storage and retrieval system stores containers, typically containing biological or chemical samples, at ultra-low temperatures, i.e., from about ?50° C. to about ?90° C., preferably about ?80° C. under normal operating conditions. Dry gas air flows are used to reduce moisture and the consequential frost within the freezer compartment. A custom insulated door is provided with an access module and a tube picking compartment as well as servo motors for controlling a robot within the ultra-low temperature freezer compartment. The robot automatically places sample storage containers in stationary storage racks within the freezer compartment. Magnetic couplings are used to transmit mechanical power from outside of the freezer compartment to the robot inside of the freezer compartment. The robot has a simplified mechanical configuration. The custom door can be readily attached to standard freezer bodies.

Abstract: A method, a system, and an apparatus are provided for wireless communication of a traffic signal over a network. A message comprising data related to the traffic signal is received. Thereafter, the forwardability of the message is detemined. If forwardable, the message is forwarded. The validity of the message is checked and if found to be valid, information in the data is communicated to a vehicle controller. The message is discarded, if it is found to be invalid.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention can resolve conflicts between candidate master network devices such as may be encountered in a failover condition. In a common type of failover protocol, two or more candidate master devices send messages to each other prior to a failover condition. A witness device (or process or service) also casts a vote to prevent a stalemate condition between the two candidate master devices that could lead to an error condition where multiple masters, or no masters, are elected.

Abstract: The present invention may be used for determining a topology of a network in the presence of network address translation. From an active client behind a translating device, communications are initiated that effect the network address translation. The communications are monitored beyond the translating device to infer partitioning of servers into equivalence sets relative to the network topology induced by the network address translation. Active clients behind the translating device may include a respective actual sending address in a message sent to a server beyond the translating device. The server beyond the translating device distinguishes between communications affected by and not affected by network address translation, which may include comparing an apparent source address of a message against an actual address provided in the message by the active client behind the translation device. The external server may also distinguish between active and passive client messages.

Abstract: The invention is directed to techniques for selecting a resource from several resources to process a request from a client. A client sends the request to a data communications device (e.g., network device or switch), which measures usage information from usage meters associated with each resource (e.g., server). The data communications device then makes a usage estimate for each server of the increase in usage required for that server to process the request from the client. Then the data communications device selects one of the servers depending on the usage estimates required to respond to the client's request. The data communications device can consider other factors such as the current level of usage, past usage, and the increased cost of responding to the request. In addition, the data communications device can consider the peak usage level of each resource already established in a current billing period.