Abstract: A microcontroller may include a processor and at least one memory device storing (a) program code of a program defining a plurality of dominator arcs based on logical relationships among basic blocks (instructions) in the program code; and (b) a set of instrumentation points consisting of a subset of the program code basic blocks that correspond with the plurality of dominator arcs, each instrumentation point being located in a respective dominator arc. A code coverage implementation program (e.g., IDE or compiler) may be configured to instrument each instrumentation point in the program code with execution tracking instruction(s) to store or generate execution recording information.

Abstract: A microcontroller may include a processor and at least one memory device storing (a) program code of a program defining a plurality of dominator arcs based on logical relationships among basic blocks (instructions) in the program code; and (b) a set of instrumentation points consisting of a subset of the program code basic blocks that correspond with the plurality of dominator arcs, each instrumentation point being located in a respective dominator arc. A code coverage implementation program (e.g., IDE or compiler) may be configured to instrument each instrumentation point in the program code with execution tracking instruction(s) to store or generate execution recording information.

Abstract: A system for use in a well includes an optical cable for positioning in the well. An optical sensor is optically coupled to the optical cable, where the optical sensor has a capillary tube and an optical fiber in the capillary tube. The capillary tube also includes a first sealed region containing a metallic material that is in liquid form at a downhole temperature in the well. A joint mechanism may attach the optical sensor to the optical cable.

Abstract: In an optical supply arrangement, a laser source (10) provides transmitted laser light down an optical supply line (12, 14). A first coupler (16), remote from the laser source (10) along the optical supply line (14), taps off a small proportion of the transmitted laser light to be returned along the optical supply line (14) to a photo detector (26) driving a monitor (28) and a controller (30). If the monitor (28) detects that the photo detector (26) is experiencing a loss of return laser light, possibly due to a break in the optical supply line (14), the monitor (28) causes the controller (30) to extinguish the laser source (10) in less time than escaping laser light can cause damage to property, person or eyesight. A first embodiment has the transmitted light on a transmission fiber optic (12) and the return laser light on a separate return fiber optic (24). A second embodiment has the return laser light being sent back down the transmission fiber optic (12).

Abstract: An improved scheduling technique for software pipelining is disclosed which is designed to find schedules requiring fewer processor clock cycles and reduce register pressure hot spots when scheduling multiple groups of instructions (e.g. as represented by multiple sub-graphs of a DDG) which are independent, and substantially identical. The improvement in instruction scheduling and reduction of hot spots is achieved by evenly distributing such groups of instructions around the schedule for a given loop.

Abstract: An improved scheduling technique for software pipelining is disclosed which is designed to find schedules requiring fewer processor clock cycles and reduce register pressure hot spots when scheduling multiple groups of instructions (e.g. as represented by multiple sub-graphs of a DDG) which are independent, and substantially identical. The improvement in instruction scheduling and reduction of hot spots is achieved by evenly distributing such groups of instructions around the schedule for a given loop.

Abstract: An apparatus for sensing data from a remote optical sensor 16 has its frequency stabilised by balancing the outputs of narrow band filter 28 30, spaced about a desired frequency 36 positioned at about the 3 db down points 40 of a broad band light source 10 using voltage control, current control or temperature control to vary the frequency of the wide band light source 10. Difference between the outputs through the two narrow band filters 28 30 can be used to drive an amplifier 48 to correct the frequency of the broad band light source. The outputs through the two narrow band filters 28 30 can be converted 52 to binary numbers and fed to a microprocessor 56 which is used, via analog conversion 60, to drive the amplifier 48. The broad band light source 10 can be pulse modulated 68 to provide temporally separate light pulses 92 94 through each of the narrow band filters 28 30, measured at separate times.

Abstract: An oral hygiene device having an ultrasound transducer 22 and an acoustic waveguide 24 facilitating the transmission of ultrasonic acoustic energy to fluids in the oral cavity is disclosed. Preferred ultrasound operating parameters for operation in aqueous environments and in dental slurries are disclosed. Devices may incorporate a drive motor 16 for oscillating a device head 23, acoustic waveguide 24 and one or more bristle tuft(s) 26 at sonic frequencies, and preferred sonic operating parameters are also provided. Multi-element piezoelectric transducer assemblies 30, 40, and various control and communications features are disclosed. Oral hygiene devices disclosed herein achieve improved plaque and stain removal from the teeth as well as interproximal and subgingival regions, while enhancing the user experience, massaging the gums, stimulating dental tissue, and disrupting biofilm.

Abstract: Under the present invention, a branch target address corresponding to a target instruction to be pre-fetched is predicted based on two values. The first value is a “predictor value” that is known for the branch target address. The second value is the address of the branch instruction from which the target instruction is branched to within the program code. Once these two values are provided, they can be processed (e.g., hashed) to yield an index value, which is used to obtain a predicted branch target address from a cache. This technique is generally implemented for branch instructions such as switch statements or polymorphic calls. In the case of the former, the predictor value is a selector operand, while in the case of the latter the predictor value is a class object address (in JAVA) or a virtual function table address (in C++).

Abstract: An oral hygiene device having an ultrasound transducer 22 and an acoustic waveguide 24 facilitating the transmission of ultrasonic acoustic energy to fluids in the oral cavity is disclosed. Preferred ultrasound operating parameters for operation in aqueous environments and in dental slurries are disclosed. Devices may incorporate a drive motor 16 for oscillating a device head 23, acoustic waveguide 24 and one or more bristle tuft(s) 26 at sonic frequencies, and preferred sonic operating parameters are also provided. Multi-element piezoelectric transducer assemblies 30, 40, and various control and communications features are disclosed. Oral hygiene devices disclosed herein achieve improved plaque and stain removal from the teeth as well as interproximal and subgingival regions, while enhancing the user experience, massaging the gums, stimulating dental tissue, and disrupting biofilm.

Abstract: An oral hygiene device having an ultrasound transducer 22 and an acoustic waveguide 24 facilitating the transmission of ultrasonic acoustic energy to fluids in the oral cavity is disclosed. Preferred ultrasound operating parameters for operation in aqueous environments and in dental slurries are disclosed. Devices may incorporate a drive motor 16 for oscillating a device head 23, acoustic waveguide 24 and one or more bristle tuft(s) 26 at sonic frequencies, and preferred sonic operating parameters are also provided. Multi-element piezoelectric transducer assemblies 30, 40, and various control and communications features are disclosed. Oral hygiene devices disclosed herein achieve improved plaque and stain removal from the teeth as well as interproximal and subgingival regions, while enhancing the user experience, massaging the gums, stimulating dental tissue, and disrupting biofilm.

Abstract: A power toothbrush (10) is disclosed having a handle (15), battery (12), ultrasonic drive circuit (14), motor (16), control unit (18), and toothbrush head (20). The toothbrush head includes bristles (26) and a waveguide (24) that is operatively connected to an ultrasonic transducer (22). The waveguide facilitates the transmission of acoustic energy into the dental fluid to achieve improved cleaning and stain removal and improved cleaning in interproximal and subgingival regions. In one embodiment an ultrasound transducer module (30) includes a plurality of piezoelectric elements (32, 34) that may be mechanically connected in series, and electrically connected in parallel. One or more contacts (36) connect the elements, and a waveguide structure (50). An impedance matching layer (38) may be provided between the waveguide and the ultrasonic transducer module. The waveguide may be formed from an relatively soft material, for example, a polymer having a hardness between 10 and 65 Shore A.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer instructions for processing instructions. A data dependency graph is built. The data dependency graph is analyzed for recurrences, and unpipelined instructions that lie outside of the recurrences are expanded.

Abstract: A mechanism for minimizing effective memory latency without unnecessary cost through fine-grained software-directed data prefetching using integrated high-level and low-level code analysis and optimizations is provided. The mechanism identifies and classifies streams, identifies data that is most likely to incur a cache miss, exploits effective hardware prefetching to determine the proper number of streams to be prefetched, exploits effective data prefetching on different types of streams in order to eliminate redundant prefetching and avoid cache pollution, and uses high-level transformations with integrated lower level cost analysis in the instruction scheduler to schedule prefetch instructions effectively.

Abstract: An apparatus for sensing data from a remote optical sensor 16 has its frequency stabilised by balancing the outputs of narrow band filter 28 30, spaced about a desired frequency 36 positioned at about the 3db down points 40 of a broad band light source 10 using voltage control, current control or temperature control to vary the frequency of the wide band light source 10. Difference between the outputs through the two narrow band filters 28 30 can be used to drive an amplifier 48 to correct the frequency of the broad band light source. The outputs through the two narrow band filters 28 30 can be converted 52 to binary numbers and fed to a microprocessor 56 which is used, via analog conversion 60, to drive the amplifier 48. The broad band light source 10 can be pulse modulated 68 to provide temporally separate light pulses 92 94 through each of the narrow band filters 28 30, measured at separate times.

Abstract: An improved scheduling technique for software pipelining is disclosed which is designed to find schedules requiring fewer processor clock cycles and reduce register pressure hot spots when scheduling multiple groups of instructions (e.g. as represented by multiple sub-graphs of a DDG) which are independent, and substantially identical. The improvement in instruction scheduling and reduction of hot spots is achieved by evenly distributing such groups of instructions around the schedule for a given loop.

Abstract: A technique of ordering machine instructions to reduce spill code. For each machine instruction that is ready for scheduling, an amount is determined by which the size of a committed set of machine instructions would increase upon the scheduling of the machine instruction. The machine instruction for which the determined amount is smallest is then scheduled. The currently committed instructions may be determined to be the machine instructions that are already scheduled as well as the machine instructions that are descendent from already scheduled machine instructions. The result is that new computations upon which a target processor will embark tend to be deferred. Bit vectors may be employed for efficiency during the assessment of candidate instructions that are ready for scheduling. The technique may be triggered when the risk of registers becoming overcommitted becomes high, as may occur when the number of available processor registers drops below a certain threshold.

Abstract: A selective optical actuation system for a plurality of electrical devices (20) comprises a variable pulse frequency pulsed light source (10) and an optical fibre network (12, 13, 14) distributing the light pulses to actuation gateway for each device, comprising a photovoltaic converter (16) whose correspondingly pulsed electrical output is applied to a ferroelectric transformer (18). Only if the pulse frequency is within the resonant band for a given transformer will the voltage be raised above a threshold value required to actuate that device. Choice of light pulse frequency thereby determines the device(s) to be actuated.

Abstract: In an optical supply arrangement, a laser source (10) provides transmitted laser light down an optical supply line (12, 14). A first coupler (16), remote from the laser source (10) along the optical supply line (14), taps off a small proportion of the transmitted laser light to be returned along the optical supply line (14) to a photo detector (26) driving a monitor (28) and a controller (30). If the monitor (28) detects that the photo detector (26) is experiencing a loss of return laser light, possibly due to a break in the optical supply line (14), the monitor (28) causes the controller (30) to extinguish the laser source (10) in less time than escaping laser light can cause damage to property, person or eyesight. A first embodiment has the transmitted light on a transmission fibre optic (12) and the return laser light on a separate return fibre optic (24). A second embodiment has the return laser light being sent back down the transmission fibre optic (12).

Abstract: A vibrating cylindrical rate sensor (10) is mechanically balanced and mode aligned with respect to the vibrating portion of the sensor (10) by removing material from a vibrating portion of the vibrating cylinder (34) after the drive and pick-off transducers (30, 32, 30a, 18, 20) are fixed to the vibrating portion of the vibrating cylinder (34) of the cylindrical rate sensor (10).