Abstract: A shipping container comprises a tubular or cylindrical shell having a closed end and an open end, a top end-cap removably secured to the open end of the tubular or cylindrical shell, and at least one fuel assembly compartment defined inside the shell. Each fuel assembly compartment includes elastomeric sidewalls and is sized and shaped to receive an unirradiated nuclear fuel assembly through the open end of the shell. The shipping container may further include a divider component, for example having a cross-shaped cross-section with ends of the cross secured to inner walls of the shell, and the divider component and the inner walls of the shell define the fuel assembly compartments. To load, the shipping container is arranged vertically and an unirradiated nuclear fuel assembly is loaded through the open end of the shell into each compartment, after which the open end is closed off by securing the top end-cap.

Abstract: A tire is provided with a tread having microsipes along lateral edges such as the leading edge, trailing edge, or both of various tread features. The microsipes are oriented substantially along the longitudinal direction. In contravention of conventional teachings, the addition of these microsipes has been found to improve rolling resistance, dry braking, or both. The microsipes can be located along edges that are chamfered as well.

Abstract: A shipping container comprises a tubular or cylindrical shell having a closed end and an open end, a top end-cap removably secured to the open end of the tubular or cylindrical shell, and at least one fuel assembly compartment defined inside the shell. Each fuel assembly compartment includes elastomeric sidewalls and is sized and shaped to receive an unirradiated nuclear fuel assembly through the open end of the shell. The shipping container may further include a divider component, for example having a cross-shaped cross-section with ends of the cross secured to inner walls of the shell, and the divider component and the inner walls of the shell define the fuel assembly compartments. To load, the shipping container is arranged vertically and an unirradiated nuclear fuel assembly is loaded through the open end of the shell into each compartment, after which the open end is closed off by securing the top end-cap.

Abstract: A shipping container comprises a tubular or cylindrical shell having a closed end and an open end, a top end-cap removably secured to the open end of the tubular or cylindrical shell, and at least one fuel assembly compartment defined inside the shell. Each fuel assembly compartment includes elastomeric sidewalls and is sized and shaped to receive an unirradiated nuclear fuel assembly through the open end of the shell. The shipping container may further include a divider component, for example having a cross-shaped cross-section with ends of the cross secured to inner walls of the shell, and the divider component and the inner walls of the shell define the fuel assembly compartments. To load, the shipping container is arranged vertically and an unirradiated nuclear fuel assembly is loaded through the open end of the shell into each compartment, after which the open end is closed off by securing the top end-cap.

Abstract: A system is implemented on a wireless network for adjusting a forward link power control parameter based on forward link feedback. A wireless unit is in communication with several base stations during soft handoff, and provides feedback relating to forward link quality, e.g., forward link pilot signal strength or traffic channel frame error rate. The feedback is compared to a comparison or reference point (such as target frame error rate, or a maximum pilot signal strength in the active set) chosen for gauging the quality or nature of the feedback for power control purposes. Based on this comparison, a power control parameter of one or more of the base stations may be adjusted upwards or downward. The power control parameter may be a forward link reference transmit power level “Pref” used to control base station power transmission levels in the presence of power control bit errors.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the use of vacuum packaging and vacuum packaging techniques. Embodiments of the present invention include bales and packages comprising a sealed chamber having an internal volume at a pressure less than ambient atmospheric pressure. In alternate embodiments of the present invention, the internal volume of the package comprises a bulk material, a bulk fiber material, fibers or fibrous materials. Also disclosed are methods for packaging, packaging systems and apparatus for packaging.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the use of vacuum packaging and vacuum packaging techniques. Embodiments of the present invention include bales and packages comprising a sealed chamber having an internal volume at a pressure less than ambient atmospheric pressure. In alternate embodiments of the present invention, the internal volume of the package comprises a bulk material, a bulk fiber material, fibers or fibrous materials. Also disclosed are methods for packaging, packaging systems and apparatus for packaging.

Abstract: An apparatus and method are described for forming a bale having substantially flat upper and lower surfaces. Also described is a bale having substantially flat upper and lower surfaces, which can be safely stacked vertically for transportation and storage purposes.

Abstract: The present invention relates to vacuum packaging and vacuum packaging techniques. Embodiments of the present invention include bales and packages comprising a sealed chamber having an internal volume at a pressure less than ambient atmospheric pressure. In various embodiments of the present invention, the internal volume of the package comprises a bulk material, a bulk fiber material, fibers or fibrous materials. Also disclosed are methods for packaging, packaging systems and apparatus for packaging.

Abstract: Disclosed is a managed reliability storage system and method. A data storage system comprises a plurality of storage devices and at least one storage device controller and may also include additional storage device controllers, one or more host systems, and one or more network connections. Aspects of the invention include reliable data storage formats, planned reliability management, threshold reliability management, and software data recovery. Reliable data formats include fault tolerant storage formats such as RAID and implementations thereof. Planned reliability management includes monitoring of system usage and adjustment of usage reflecting an optimal usage model, scheduled and event driven diagnostic execution and conditional adjustment of operating parameters of storage system components. Software data recovery provides copying and reconstruction of data through redundant data formats including parity, ECC, RLL and others encoding methods.

Abstract: A method for link quality control in a wireless communications network includes determining whether an indicator of link imbalance exists among a plurality of base stations associated with a mobile unit, and implementing a control action to help prevent at least one of fading or signal cutoff between the mobile unit and at least one of the base stations, if the indicator indicates that link imbalance exists.

Abstract: A cooler for fluids uses multiple internal channels to increase the time a hot fluid is contained in the cooler, thus increasing cooling efficiency, and allowing the length of the cooler to be shorter than an equivalent cooler with fewer passes. The cooler uses external and internal heat-exchanging fins to increase surface area for contact with both the fluid and the external environment. The cooler is designed around a cylindrical vessel, equipped with a set of internal baffles, forming the multiple channels. End caps, one of which contains inlet and outlet ports, are welded to the cooling vessel, increasing ability to contain pressure. The small channel size and fluid flow-path holes cut through the baffles prevent air bubbles, which would reduce cooling efficiency. Coolers with four channels are provided for higher-pressure applications and coolers with six channels are provided for lower-pressure applications.

Abstract: An automatic velocity calibrator for a head positioning servo system in a magnetic disk drive performs a velocity calibration in a single pass over the magnetic disks by measuring actuator velocity and adjusting the gain of the velocity transducer in a series of successive approximations. Velocity is determined by turning a timer on in response to a track crossing and turning the timer off after at least two successive track crossings have been detected. A plurality of velocity measurements are stored and averaged. The average velocity is compared to a constant velocity command and an 8-bit latch is incremented or decremented in response to this comparison. A digital to analog converter produces a reference for an automatic gain control amplifier in the servo system which in turn adjusts the velocity transducer gain.