Abstract: A device for positioning and supporting the cumbersome weight of an air or gas breathing plenum (hose), over a person's head during rest or sleep, to thereby increase free movement and reduce distress to the user. The device consisting essentially of a collapsible sectional tubular boom, supported by a planar wire form base captured by the weight of the user's mattress, and an elastic cord passing through the hollow interior of the tubing sections used to: capture the hose at the outboard end of the boom, keep the boom erect, affix the boom to the supporting base, and said elastic cord also to gather and order the collapsed boom sections during folded storage. Said device is particularly convenient for use with CPAP equipment used in the control of sleep apnea, as it is sized to fit within the travel bag of even the smallest of CPAP machines during travel away from home.

Abstract: According to the invention an intelligent network backplane interface is provided for an intelligent local area network hub and a method for implementing the common interface is provided. The hub includes a concentrator backplane operating one or more local area access method. Modules are provided for connection to said backplane for providing a local area network function. A common interface, in the form of a carrier unit having an interface management processor is provided for establishing a connection between any one of various modules and the backplane. The processor provides a control for exchanging information between a module and the common interface with a first mailbox for reading information signals from the module and writing information signals to the interface and a second mailbox for reading information from the interface and writing information to the module. Information acquired by the control is used to form a parameter table for listing features of the module.