Abstract: A solar-powered supercritical carbon dioxide turbine system includes a supercritical carbon dioxide turbine system and a solar heating system. The solar heating system has a molten salt heat transfer fluid for providing thermal energy to the supercritical carbon dioxide turbine system.

Abstract: A pipelined execution unit incorporates one or more low power modes that reduce power consumption by dynamically merging pipeline stages in an execution pipeline together with one another. In particular, the execution logic in successive pipeline stages in an execution pipeline may be dynamically merged together by setting one or more latches that are intermediate to such pipeline stages to a transparent state such that the output of the pipeline stage preceding such latches is passed to the subsequent pipeline stage during the same clock cycle so that both such pipeline stages effectively perform steps for the same instruction during each clock cycle. Then, with the selected pipeline stages merged, the power consumption of the execution pipeline can be reduced (e.g., by reducing the clock frequency and/or operating voltage of the execution pipeline), often with minimal adverse impact on performance.

Abstract: A circuit arrangement and method utilize a plurality of execution units having different power and performance characteristics and capabilities within a multithreaded processor core, and selectively route instructions having different performance requirements to different execution units based upon those performance requirements. As such, instructions that have high performance requirements, such as instructions associated with primary tasks or time sensitive tasks, can be routed to a higher performance execution unit to maximize performance when executing those instructions, while instructions that have low performance requirements, such as instructions associated with background tasks or non-time sensitive tasks, can be routed to a reduced power execution unit to reduce the power consumption (and associated heat generation) associated with executing those instructions.

Abstract: A dual neutron-gamma ray source comprises a compact neutron generator, a shield, a collimator, and an internal gamma target. The shield surrounds the compact neutron generator. The collimator traverses the shield from the compact neutron generator to a collimator port. The internal gamma target is positioned within the collimator to generate gamma rays from the neutrons.

Abstract: A circuit arrangement and method utilize an issue rate-based predictive thermal management technique in a microprocessor or other integrated circuit that tracks the rate in which instructions are issued to one or more execution units in the processing unit, and selectively delays the issuance of subsequent instructions to the execution unit(s) based upon the tracked issue rate to predictively control the thermal output of the integrated circuit.

Abstract: A dual neutron-gamma ray source comprises a compact neutron generator, a shield, a collimator, and an internal gamma target. The shield surrounds the compact neutron generator. The collimator traverses the shield from the compact neutron generator to a collimator port. The internal gamma target is positioned within the collimator to generate gamma rays from the neutrons.

Abstract: An apparatus and method to transmit unaligned data over an interface bus while providing the appearance of aligned data transfers to the receiving processor. In a preferred embodiment, an alignment mechanism is provided in the bus interface of the receiving processor to align the data transfers transparent to the receiving processor. The alignment mechanism detects an unaligned transfer in the bus command queue and forms multiple commands of aligned data to send to the processor.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for gas/liquid separation on an array of jets or streams of liquid is provided. Layers of substantially spherical aggregates of meshed material are provided to “quiet” high-velocity liquid flow with entrained gas to provide a uniform flow at moderate or low velocity from which the gas has been substantially separated from the liquid.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for gas/liquid separation on an array of jets or streams of liquid is provided. Layers of structured packing material are configured to “quiet” high-velocity liquid flow with entrained gas to provide a flow at moderate or low velocity from which the gas has been substantially separated from the liquid.