Abstract: An innovative method is provided for assessing structural integrity of a sample. The method comprises: capturing a signal indicative of magnetic flux density caused by an Eddy current flowing in the sample; extracting an envelope of the captured signal using a demodulation scheme; sampling the envelope at a frequency that is lower than the frequency of the excitation current signal which generated the Eddy current; and examining the sampled envelope to assess structural integrity of the sample.

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that implements a security policy in a database. During operation, the system receives a request associated with a set of objects in the database. Next, the system obtains a set of access control lists (ACLs) associated with the database, wherein a respective ACL specifies one or more access privileges associated with a user or user group, and wherein a respective ACLs is not specific to a particular object in the database. The system then evaluates the ACLs to obtain a set of ACL results associated with the request and processes the request by applying the set of ACL results to the objects without evaluating the ACLs repeatedly for each of the objects.

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates managing security policies for databases in a distributed system. During operation, the system creates multiple label security policies. The system stores these security policies in a directory and automatically propagates them from the directory to each database within the distributed system. In doing so, the system allows for applying policies to individual tables and schema in any database in the distributed system. The system facilitates centralized administration of security policies and removes the need for replicating policies, since the policy information is available in the directory.

Abstract: A communications device, e.g., a mobile wireless terminal, includes a plurality of antennas having different associated polarization directions. The plurality of antennas includes an electrical antenna, e.g., a dipole antenna and a magnetic antenna, e.g., a loop antenna or a slot antenna. In one embodiment the electrical antenna is used for receiving and/or transmitting signals associated with a vertical polarization direction, while the magnetic antenna is used for receiving and/or transmitting signals associated with a horizontal polarization direction in some embodiments different data streams are communicated concurrently via the electrical and magnetic antennas. Methods for operating the communications device to switch between the electrical and magnetic antennas and/or to control reception and/or transmission are described.

Abstract: A communications device, e.g., a mobile wireless terminal, includes a plurality of antennas having different polarization directions. The plurality of antennas includes a first antenna and second antenna which are operated in a coordinated fashion. During reception a signal received via the first antenna is subjected to a phase shift operation before being combined with a signal received via the second antenna. During transmission a signal to be communicated is subjected to a phase shift operation and the phase shifted signal is transmitted over the first antenna while the non-phase shifted signal is transmitted over the second antenna. The amount of phase shift is a function of the difference in polarization directions between the first and second antennas. The novel antenna configuration facilitates the use of the horizontal polarization direction communications between the communications device and a base station without the need for directionally positioning one or more electrical antennas.

Abstract: Method and apparatus related to implementing and/or utilizing different polarization antennas with different corresponding average transmit power levels are described. Inter-cell interference is mitigated by having different cells with different power relationships between polarizations antennas. For example, a first base station transmits at a high average power level on its vertical polarization antenna and transmits at a low average power level on its horizontal polarization antenna. Concurrently, a second base station, which is adjacent to the first base station, transmits at a low average power level on its vertical polarization antenna and transmits at a high average power level on its horizontal polarization antenna. In some hexagonal deployment schemes a base station has at most two adjacent base stations using the same power level to antenna polarization direction relationship as it is using.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for using multiple antennas having different polarizations are described. Polarized antennas are advantageously deployed in a cellular network. Some of the cells utilize an antenna with a first direction polarization, while cells use an antenna with a second direction polarization, for a given carrier. Various embodiments are directed to methods and apparatus related to base station deployment which set up and/or operate base stations in accordance with an advantageous reuse pattern from the perspective of inter-cell interference. In some embodiments a plurality of carriers are used in addition to a plurality of different polarization direction antennas. In some such embodiments, a base station is configured so that for a given cell different carriers are associated with different direction polarization antennas. Some embodiments are directed to single sector base station implementations.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for using multiple antennas having different polarizations are described. Polarized antennas are advantageously deployed in a cellular network. Some of the sectors utilize an antenna with a first direction polarization, while other sectors use an antenna with a second direction polarization, for a given carrier. Various embodiments are directed to methods and apparatus related to base station deployment which set up and/or operate base stations in accordance with an advantageous reuse pattern from the perspective of inter-cell and/or inter-sector interference. In some embodiments a plurality of carriers are used in addition to a plurality of different polarization direction antennas. In some such embodiments, a base station is configured so that for a given sector different carriers are associated with different direction polarization antennas. Some embodiments are directed to multi-sector base station implementations.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for supporting the communication of an information stream using an individual polarization type are described. For example, a first data stream is communicated from a base station sector transmitter using horizontal polarization signals and a second data stream is communicated using vertical polarization signals. A mobile wireless communications device, employing a plurality of dipole antennas associated with different direction polarizations, e.g., a first direction horizontal polarization dipole antenna, a second direction horizontal polarization dipole antenna and a vertical polarization dipole antenna, multiple receiver modules, and a combiner module, facilitates the recovery of horizontal polarization signals without the need for azimuth antenna orienting or repositioning, and also facilitates the recovery of vertical polarization signals.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus which support the use of differently polarized antennas to schedule two or more users employing multiple antennas with different polarization, on the same communications segment, e.g. a time/frequency slab, in either the uplink or downlink are described. Various embodiments include an access node which classifies and schedules wireless terminals to segments as a function of suitability for single polarization direction communications. Some embodiments are directed to methods and apparatus for operating a communications device supporting the use of multiple antennas having different polarization, to implement a polarization based multiple access scheme. Unlike Spatial Division multiple access schemes, the users sharing a communications segment in the polarization based scheme need not be geographically well separated.

Abstract: A MIMO wireless communications device supports a dual polarized mode of antenna operation and a single polarized mode of antenna operation. Antenna mode selection is performed as a function of signal to noise ratio information and/or rank information corresponding to a communications channel matrix. One of a communications device's processing chains is switched between first and second polarization orientation antennas, e.g., vertical and horizontally polarized antennas, as a function of the antenna mode selection. In various embodiments, the dual polarized mode is advantageously used for high SNR users, while in the low SNR regime, where the capacity is limited by received power, the single polarized antenna configuration, sometimes referred to as the spatial MIMO configuration, is used.