Abstract: A personal accessory includes an outer cover and a pocket disposed within the body and accessible through an aperture through the outer cover. A holder includes a peripheral frame defining at least one window for receiving and holding a substantially flat object, the holder adapted to be inserted into and extracted from the pocket. A tether has a first end attached to the body at a point within the pocket and a second end attached to the holder, the holder rotatable around the second end of the tether when the holder is substantially extracted from the pocket. A quick release mechanism is selectively provided within selected pockets of the personal accessory and includes a corresponding plurality of pocket liners attached to a rigid sheet. Manual force applied to the rigid sheet forces substantially flat objects within the selected pockets outward from those pockets for rapid access and extraction.

Abstract: Metastable compensation circuitry 700 for detecting and compensating for metastable states of a regenerative latch 209 in a charge redistribution analog to digital converter 201. First and second latches 701a,b each having a selected threshold voltage for monitor corresponding first and second outputs of regenerative latch 209. Detection logic 202a,b 703 detects a selected output state of the first and second latches corresponding to a metastable state of regenerative latch 209. Suppression logic 703 generates an output of a selected logic level in response to the detection of a metastable state by detection logic 702/703.

Abstract: A content addressable memory cell 920 includes a first storage element 922a for storing information and a first transistor 921a for selectively transferring charge representing information from a first bitline 924a to the first storage element 922a. A second transistor 921b selectively transfers charge representing information from a second bitline 924b to a second storage element 922b. First and second comparelines 925a, 925b carry first and second bits of a comparand to a comparator 905, 906, 908 which compares the first and second bits of the comparand with information stored on the first and second storage elements. In response, comparator 905, 906, 908 selectively controls a voltage on a corresponding one of a plurality of matchline 909.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for limiting the output current in a switched mode amplifier are implemented. The apparatus includes a driver amplifier configurable for selective operation in one of three modes. The amplifier is operable for transitioning between the first mode and one of the second and third modes in response to a state of an output node of the driver. Bias circuitry, configurable for selective coupling to the driver amplifier is operable for limiting the output current of the amplifier in the first operating mode.

Abstract: An image projection system comprises an image projector, such as a film or television projector and a projection screen. The projection screen is fabricated of a substantially transparent material, such as glass or plastic. The screen of transparent material has one or more areas or portions formed therein which areas or portions may be made to be translucent upon the application of a stimulus. Once in a translucent condition, the projected image can be received and viewed on the translucent portion. A mirror can be positioned behind the projection screen so that a person can view the reflection of themselves in the mirror when the screen is transparent, and an image can be projected when the projection screen is made to be substantially translucent.

Abstract: A ceramic actuator array is utilized to move a field emitter material for each pixel or subpixel to a level where an electric field causes electrons to be emitted from the emitter material towards a phosphor layer in an anode for that particular pixel. When the actuator is in an off state, then the field emitter material is removed to a different level where electrons are not urged to escape from the field emitter material. Thus, a display can be created using such an actuator array with field emitter materials deposited on each actuator element where each actuator element is individually controlled.

Abstract: A high performance integrated circuit (IC) with independent read and write data busses enables full simultaneous read and write data transfers between devices coupled to the buses. Multiple master and multiple slave devices communicate using the resources of a bus controller and a bus arbiter. Having separate read and write data busses with separate and independent arbitration allows reads and writes from different devices to occur simultaneously. Many high performance IC, like systems on a chip (SOC), have many different functional units communicating with a central processing unit (CPU). Many such CPUs have architectures that may cause in certain applications an unbalance between read and write traffic on the independent busses. Master and slave devices contain auxiliary internal read and write data buses multiplexed such that read or write data may be interchanged.

Abstract: Within a computer cluster usage reference counts are maintained for replicated databases within a computer cluster using cluster membership and cluster voting services. Such a method includes the maintaining of a local reference count for all open distributed data resources within a given node, tracking by a group services client of those nodes that have the open distributed data resources, and using cluster membership services to update the local reference counts for node failures.

Abstract: The present invention provides a glass BGA (ball grid array) including a glass substrate having a plurality of conductive leads, such as thin film metal deposited thereon. A die or chip is mounted in a fixed relationship to the glass substrate, and is often mounted on the glass substrate. The die includes a plurality of I/O pads for providing electrical access to circuitry inside the die. Circuitry is included for connecting the plurality of I/O pads to the plurality of conductive leads on the glass substrate.

Abstract: A method and a circuit of performing an analog to digital conversion in a charge redistribution circuit including a capacitor array of weighted capacitors and a transistor track switch for sampling an input signal into the capacitor array. A common mode voltage is stepped to a voltage sufficient to turn on the transistor track switch during a sampling phase. During the sampling phase, a top plate of each of the capacitors is coupled to the common mode voltage through the track switch while the bottom plate of each of the capacitors is coupled to an input to sample an input signal. During a conversion phase, the top plate of each of the capacitors is decoupled from the common mode voltage and the bottom plates of a selected one of the weighted capacitors is coupled to a first reference voltage, a weight of the selected one of the weighted capacitors proportional to the step in the common mode voltage.

Abstract: A carbon deposition chamber is provided with several advantages. The substrate and the heating filaments are cooled to a temperature to prevent carbonization by permitting a cooling fluid to be passed through tubing connected to these elements in a heat sink like manner. The substrate is permitted to rotate back-and-forth to permit more even deposition of carbon films onto the substrate. The heating filaments are permitted to expand and contract without breakage by permitting the electrode attached to one end of the filaments to move freely as the filaments change in length. The gas mixture used within the deposition process is expressed from tubing through three zones, which are each individually determined with needle valves.

Abstract: A method of operating a cache memory includes the step of storing a set of data in a first space in a cache memory, a set of data associated with a set of tags. A subset of the set of data is stored in a second space in the cache memory, the subset of the set of data associated with a tag of a subset of the set of tags. The tag portion of an address is compared with the subset of data in the second space in the cache memory in that said subset of data is read when the tag portion of the address and the tag associated with the subset of data match. The tag portion of the address is compared with the set of tags associated with the set of data in the first space in cache memory and the set of data in the first space is read when the tag portion of the address matches one of the sets of tags associated with the set of data in the first space and the tag portion of the address and the tag associated with the subset of data in the second space do not match.

Abstract: A triode structure code cathode assembly is produced by depositing a carbon emitter material onto a substrate to form a cathode structure. Then, an insulating layer is deposited onto one side of a mesh foil to form a mesh assembly. This mesh assembly is then mechanically attached to the cathode structure so that the insulating layer on the one side of the mesh assembly is contacting the cathode structure. This entire triode cathode assembly can then be used to produce a field emission display device by including an anode structure.

Abstract: A carbon film having an area of insulating material surrounded by an area of conducing material, and an area of material between the area of insulating material and the area of conducting material having a graded dielectric constant which varies from high to low from the area of insulating material to the area of conducting material.

Abstract: A single variable color display device simultaneously exhibits two distinct display units in a side by side relation. Two color controls are provided for illuminating the display units in respectively different colors so they could be readily distinguished.

Abstract: A field emission cathode for use in flat panel displays is described including a layer of conductive material and a layer of amorphic diamond film, functioning as a low effective work-function material, deposited over the conductive material to form emission sites. The emission sites each contain at least two sub-regions having differing electron affinities. Use of the cathode to form a computer screen is also described along with the use of the cathode to form a fluorescent light source.

Abstract: An image projection system comprises an image projector, such as a film or television projector and a projection screen. The projection screen is fabricated of a substantially transparent material, such as glass or plastic. The screen of transparent material has one or more areas or portions formed therein which areas or portions may be made to be translucent upon the application of a stimulus. Once in a translucent condition, the projected image can be received and viewed on the translucent portion. A mirror can be positioned behind the projection screen so that a person can view the reflection of themself in the mirror when the screen is transparent, and an image can be projected when the projection screen is made to be substantially translucent.

Abstract: A data processing system includes a processor having a first level cache and a prefetch engine. Coupled to the processor are a second level cache and a third level cache and a system memory. Prefetching of cache lines is performed into each of the first, second, and third level caches by the prefetch engine. Prefetch requests from the prefetch engine to the second and third level caches is performed over a private prefetch request bus, which is separate from the bus system that transfers data from the various cache levels to the processor. A software instruction is used to accelerate the prefetch process by overriding the normal functionality of the hardware prefetch engine. The instruction also limits the amount of data to be prefetched.

Abstract: A computer system includes a register file and an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) for reading data from the register file. The ALU is configured to conduct data processing of the data which was and to store the results of the data processing in the register file. The computer system further includes a condition code stack configured to hold data indicative of the context results of the data processing by the ALU. The ALU is further configured to query the condition code stack for predetermined bit values to determine operations controlled by the ALU. In particular, value of a specified data item in a condition code stack is queried, and the queried value of the data item is used to implement transfer control.

Abstract: Data is transmitted over a computer network from a source network component to one or more destination network components. Thereafter, one or more acknowledgements are transmitted from one of the destination network components to the source network component; and different data, which may include retransmissions, from the previously transmitted data is transmitted from the source network component to the one or more destination network components. A negative acknowledgement message from the destination network component may be transmitted to the source network component upon a failure to receive one or more of the transmitted data packets, the negative acknowledgment including packet identifications of said one or more data packets. Then data packets identified by the identifications received in a negative acknowledgement may be retransmitted before transmitting other packets. The negative acknowledgements thus indicate failed receipt of data. Positive acknowledgements indicate successful receipt of data.