Abstract: A method of making a mask or an electronic part, for example a printed circuit, comprises the steps of delivering heat in a desired pattern to a precursor of the mask or electronic part, the precursor comprising a surface coated with a coating, the coating comprising a heat-sensitive composition itself comprising an aqueous developer soluble polymeric substance and a compound which reduces the aqueous developer solubility of the polymeric substance, wherein the aqueous developer solubility of the composition is not increased by incident UV radiation but is increased by the delivery of heat; then developing the precursor to remove the heat-sensitive composition in regions to which the heat was delivered. In the case of a printed circuit precursor the surface may be then etched in conventional manner to yield the required printed circuit.

Abstract: An adaptor for forming a branch in a conduit is shaped and dimensioned to slide onto a cylindrical conduit. The adaptor includes a collar having an outer generally circumferentially extending wall, end walls and a cylindrical passage extending between the end walls. The passage has an inner wall and an opening at each end, and spaced resiliently deformable sealing means adjacent each opening. The sealing means is positioned to provide a seal between the collar and the cylindrical conduit when the adaptor is slidingly engaged with the cylindrical conduit. The collar includes at least one fluid flow passage extending between the outer wall and the inner wall.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a switch for processing data units, such as IF data packets. The switch can be implemented as a router that includes a plurality of input ports, a plurality of output ports and a switch fabric capable of establishing logical pathways to interconnect a certain input port with a certain output port. A characterizing element of the router is its ability to control bandwidth usage on a basis of a logical pathway. This prevents congestion to occur in the switch fabric and also at the level of the output ports. For every active logical pathway the router sets-up a bandwidth control mechanism including at least one queue to hold data units received at an input port. The bandwidth control mechanism performs an accounting operation to determine the average bandwidth usage and if less than a threshold requests for releasing data units in the switch fabric are sent to the switch fabric controller.

Abstract: A method of investigating the response of an instrument to gamma emissions using a source package includes providing a source package on one side of a collimator including an aperture and a detector on the other side of the collimator relative to the source package, the collimator and detector positions defining an operating axis for the instrument. The position of the source package is then moved relative to the collimator. The response of the detector is measured for two or more of these different positions of the source package. The aperture in the collimator has a first dimension measured in a first direction perpendicular to the operating axis. The source package includes one or more individual gamma emitting sources provided in a container. During use, the individual source(s) have an overall extent in the first direction, the overall extent, during at least 10 seconds of use, being two or more times the first dimension of the collimator in that first direction.

Abstract: This invention is directed to a precursor for preparing a resist pattern by heat mode imaging, the precursor comprising a heat sensitive composition, the solubility of which in an aqueous alkaline developer is arranged to increase in heated areas, and a means for increasing the resistance of non-heated areas of the heat sensitive composition to dissolution in an aqueous alkaline developer (the “developer resistance means”), wherein said developer resistance means comprises one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of: (A) compounds which include a poly(alkylene oxide) unit; (B) siloxanes; and (C) esters, ethers and amides of polyhydric alcohols, wherein said heat-sensitive composition comprises an aqueous alkaline developer soluble polymeric substance (i.e. the “active polymer”) and a compound which reduces the aqueous alkaline developer solubility of the polymeric substance (i.e.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a method for producing a predetermined resist pattern on a substrate. The method includes the patternwise application of infrared radiation to a precursor which contains the substrate, having a coating thereon, wherein the coating contains a positive working composition; and the development of the pattern using a developer. The composition contains a polymeric substance having functional groups Q thereon, such that the functionalized polymeric substance has the property that it is developer insoluble prior to delivery of infrared radiation and developer soluble thereafter.

Abstract: An imagable article comprises a thermally imagable coating on a substrate, the coating comprising a radiation absorbing compound and a metal compound which is thermally decomposable, to form a metal. The imagable article is imagewise exposed to electromagnetic radiation, which is converted to heat by the radiation absorbing compound. The imaged article is then subjected to a developer, and in regions that have been exposed the thermally decomposable metal compound is decomposed to elemental metal, and regions that have not been exposed dissolve in the developer leaving behind the regions of elemental metal.

Abstract: Flow control of packet based traffic by window is known. Novel modification is described which causes the flow control mechanism to reduce sending rate to some configured number rather than just reducing it by a fixed amount such as one half. The description also shows how the flow control mechanism can be constrained to a maximum rate. The configured numbers will assure that the connection can always run at a minimum rate but not more than a maximum rate. If the guaranteed minimum bandwidth is known and the round trip time between the end points is known or has been calculated, then the sender node needs only reduce its window to that which corresponds to a sending rate equal to that configured number. In this way the protocol will still probe for extra, opportunistic bandwidth but will be able to maintain the minimum rate. In a similar way a window that corresponds to the maximum rate can be calculated and used to constrain the maximum rate of sending.

Abstract: Thermally imageable lithographic printing plate precursors and heat-sensitive compositions for use in these printing plate precursors are disclosed. The compositions contain an aqueous developer soluble polymer, such as a phenolic resin; a compound that reduces the aqueous developer solubility of the polymer; and optionally, and infrared absorber. Examples of compounds that reduce the aqueous developer solubility of the polymer are those that contain at least one quarternized nitrogen atom, such as quinolinium compounds, benzothiazolium compounds, pyridinium compounds, and imidazoline compounds. On thermal imaging, the irradiated areas become more soluble in the aqueous developer and can be removed to form a positive image.

Abstract: The invention provides a lithographic printing for precursor having an imagable coating on an aluminum support, wherein the imagable coating comprises a polymeric substance comprising colorant groups, and wherein the aluminum support on which the coating is provided is anodized but not subsequently modified by means of a post-anodic treatment compound, and the coating does not comprise a colorant dye. The polymeric substance may also comprise pendent infra-red or developer dissolution inhibiting groups, and these groups may also be the colorant groups themselves.

Abstract: A method of monitoring telecommunications network traffic comprising the steps of: receiving a packet stream comprising packets each identified as belonging to one of at least three classes; calculating a difference between the numbers of packets received identified as belonging to a first and a second of said classes; and deriving a measure of traffic load on the network responsive to said difference. The invention also relates to a method for admission control based on the above method of monitoring and a method for overcoming admission control avoidance. It also relates to apparatus embodying these methods.

Abstract: Polymeric compounds for lithographic printing plates, especially plates for use in printing utilizing UV curable inks, may include a structural unit (I) wherein R1 represents an optionally-substituted cyclic or alkyl group, x represents 0 or 1 and A represents an optionally-substituted alkylene group. A range of compounds having different solubilities in selected solvents may be prepared by varying the identity or group R1. Such components may be prepared by reacting an amine of formula R1NH2 with the maleic anhydride derivative corresponding to moiety 1.

Abstract: Phenolic resin compositions formulated for use in lithographic exposure processes are given a heat treatment at 40-90° C. for at least 4 hours shortly after their coating onto lithographic substrates, to produce lithographic printing forms. It is found that such a heat treatment improves later exposure processes, in particular by rendering the sensitivity of the compositions less variable, over time.

Abstract: A method of making a mask or an electronic part, for example a printed circuit, comprises the steps of delivering heat in a desired pattern to a precursor of the mask or electronic part, the precursor comprising a surface coated with a coating, the coating comprising a heat-sensitive composition itself comprising an aqueous developer soluble polymeric substance and a compound which reduces the aqueous developer solubility of the polymeric substance, wherein the aqueous developer solubility of the composition is not increased by incident UV radiation but is increased by the said delivery of heat; then developing the precursor to remove heat-sensitive composition in regions to which the heat was delivered. In the case of a printed circuit precursor the surface may then be etched in conventional manner to yield the required printed circuit.

Abstract: Methods for modeling costs of wireless network infrastructure are described. More specifically, the cost contribution models for modeling radioports are described. Various radioport architectures include a constant channel capacity model (48) and a constant offered load model (82). Under constraints imposed by a class of dense user networks, such as wireless metropolitan area networks, cost models are shown to exhibit convex cost functions having minimums. Processes for analyzing these cost models are described for determining which radioport architecture, provides a least-cost radioport cost segment to the overall network cost.

Abstract: Thermally imageable lithographic printing plate precursors and heat-sensitive compositions for use in these printing plate precursors are disclosed. The compositions contain an aqueous developer soluble polymer, such as a phenolic resin; a compound that reduces the aqueous developer solubility of the polymer; and optionally, and infrared absorber. Examples of compounds that reduce the aqueous developer solubility of the polymer are those that contain at least one quarternized nitrogen atom, such as quinolinium compounds, benzothiazolium compounds, pyridinium compounds, and imidazoline compounds. On thermal imaging, the irradiated areas become more soluble in the aqueous developer and can be removed to form a positive image.

Abstract: Congestion at a network node can be aggravated by having too many TCP connections. A simple method of avoiding the bad effects of too many TCP connections is to limit the number of connections. Limiting the number of connections is achieved by an admission control which delays or even discards the connection set-up packets. TCP traffic flows are monitored to generate packet loss characteristics and when a certain condition is met, a connection request queue is disabled.

Abstract: Transport networks are facing new challenges and opportunities because of the explosive growth of data traffic. Besides having to meet the ever increasing bandwidth demand, transport networks need to provide new functionalities for the support of data applications. Novel enhanced transport systems with inherent packet multiplexing to meet these challenges are described. It uses Internet protocols and technologies to implement these packet transport systems, and thereby re-use much of the existing Internet infrastructure already widely deployed.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a lossy switch for processing data units, for example IP data packets. The switch can be implemented as a contained network that includes a plurality of input ports, a plurality of output ports and a lossy switch fabric capable of establishing logical pathways to interconnect a certain input port with a certain output port. A characterizing element of the switch is its ability to control the discard of data packets at a transport point within the switch. This control mechanism prevents and reduces congestion which may occur within the switch fabric and at the level of the input and output ports. The system also supports priorities, routing HI priority request data packets over the switch fabric before LO priority request data packets, and discarding LO priority data packets first when controlling congestion.

Abstract: Polymeric compounds for lithographic printing plates, especially plates for use in printing utilizing UV curable inks, may include a structural unit (I) 1