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Bert

Alberto Bert, Pinasca (torino) IT

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20090175527METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC RECOGNITION OF PRENEOPLASTIC ANOMALIES IN ANATOMIC STRUCTURES BASED ON AN IMPROVED REGION-GROWING SEGMENTATION, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM THEREFOR - A process for the automatic recognition of anomalies in anatomical structures, as well as a processing system and a computer program for implementing the process are described, the process comprising the steps of: 07-09-2009

Arthur R. Bert, Natick, MA US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20100004963METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING A BUSINESS ORGANIZATION THAT NEEDS TRANSFORMATION - A method and system for identifying a business organization that needs transformation is provided. In one implementation the method and system may include providing information, such as financial, marketing, and internal information, related to a business organization; determining from the information whether the business organization has had a performance trigger; adding the business organization to a list of transformation candidates if the determination identifies the business organization as having had a performance trigger; and displaying on a display device whether the business organization is a candidate for transformation.01-07-2010

Braune Bert, Wenzenbach DE

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20080197376Method for Producing an Optical, Radiation-Emitting Component and Optical, Radiation-Emitting Component - The invention related to a method for producing an optical and a radiation-emitting component by a molding process, and to an optical and a radiation-emitting component having well-defined viscosity.08-21-2008

Christoph Bert, Uttenreuth DE

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20130292580RADIATION PHANTOM - A radiation phantom device includes at least one movement device for moving at least one first sub-region of the radiation phantom device. The radiation phantom device has at least one of at times or in regions, radiation properties which are in conformity with a radiation phantom model.11-07-2013
20130303825METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING IRRADIATION PLANNING - A method for drawing up an irradiation plan includes at least one of calculating, assessing, displaying and taking into consideration effects of at least one uncertainty on the irradiation plan, at least one of at times and in certain areas.11-14-2013
20140166896Irradiation Installation and Control Method for Controlling Same - To control of an irradiation installation, a particle beam is generated with a beam intensity, and a beam quality of the particle beam is monitored with a beam monitoring device. One of several adjustable measurement ranges is selected, wherein the measurement range of the beam monitoring device is set depending on the beam intensity of the particle beam and/or depending on a particle count to be applied.06-19-2014
20140324402METHOD FOR DETERMINING A DOSE ENTERING AN OBJECT THAT IS TO BE IRRADIATED - A method for determining a dose of radiation input into an object irradiated with an energetic particle beam includes determining, during the application of the radiation, a dose input into at least one volume region of the object. The at least one volume region of the object lies outside a target volume region. The dose input into the at least one volume region is determined with a calculation that is based at least in part on a physical model of the energetic particle beam.10-30-2014
20150038762METHOD FOR PREPARING AN IRRADIATION PLAN FOR A MOVING TARGET VOLUME WITHOUT A MOVEMENT COMPENSATION - A method for preparing a radiation treatment plan for irradiating a target volume region moving in regions in an object with a moving particle beam includes determining, using a mapping function dependent on a movement state (k) of the moving target volume region, a dose input in at least one target point volume (Vj). The dose input is brought about by applying the particle beam to an irradiation point (Bi).02-05-2015

Patent applications by Christoph Bert, Uttenreuth DE

Christoph Bert, Aschaffenburg DE

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20090095921Device for Irradiating Tumour Tissue in a Patient With a Particle Beam - There is proposed a device for the slice-by-slice irradiation of tumour tissue (04-16-2009
20100074408DETERMINATION OF A PLANNING VOLUME FOR IRRADIATION OF A BODY - A system for irradiating a predetermined target volume in a body with a particle beam is constructed to direct the particle beam at a multiplicity of target points in the body in succession, in order to produce at each of the target points a predetermined dose distribution. For the system there is determined a planning target volume by first determining, in a fictive homogeneous body, a target volume equivalent to the minimum target volume in the body. The equivalent target volume is extended by a safety margin, in order to determine the planning target volume.03-25-2010
20100108903DETERMINATION OF CONTROL PARAMETERS FOR IRRADIATION OF A MOVING TARGET VOLUME IN A BODY - Abstract: A control parameter is determined for a system (05-06-2010
20100301235METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IRRADIATION OF A MOVING TARGET VOLUME - A method of determining an actual, especially an actual effective, radiation dose distribution of a moving target volume includes detecting first and further positions of volume elements of the target volume in a first and at least one further motional state of the moving target volume, determining transformation parameters by transformation of the first positions into the further positions, irradiating the moving target volume in accordance with an irradiation plan which comprises a plurality of raster points to be irradiated, wherein during the irradiation of a raster point it is detected which of the motional states is occupied by the moving target volume, assigning raster points to subirradiation plans and determining the actual effective dose for each of the plurality of volume elements, in each case from contributions from the raster points of the subirradiation plans using the transformation parameters. Calculation and application of correction parameters which compensate for changes, caused by movement, to the position of the Bragg maximum and to the biologically effective dose applied.12-02-2010
20100327188METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IRRADIATION OF A TARGET VOLUME - A method of generating a data set defining a plurality of target points in a target volume in a body at which a particle beam is to be directed in a continuous or discontinuous process includes directing a particle beam to each of the target points so as to provide a spatial dose distribution in an area around the respective target point. The target points include a first target point having z-spacing, measured in a direction of the particle beam in a homogenous body equivalent to the body, from an adjacent second target point at a higher or lower particle energy. The method also includes defining the target points in the data set by at least one of the z-spacing and the spatial dose distribution in dependence upon a particle energy of the respective target point.12-30-2010
20110027853Phantom for the experimental in-vitro validation of radiation procedures under the influence of motion, taking into account the biological effective dose - A phantom device for in-vitro validation of radiation procedures under motion influence in consideration of an effective biological dose includes a phantom having a first biological detector with a first biological sample. The first biological sample includes a plurality of culturing and irradiation elements. Each of the culturing and irradiation elements are provided with a respective biological sub-sample so that the first biological detector is configured as a spatially resolving biological detector. A first motion device is configured to move the first biological detector so as to simulate a motion of a target volume.02-03-2011
20110272600Irradiation of at Least Two Target Volumes - The invention concerns an idea of planning irradiation of two target points (11-10-2011
20110297849Deposition of an Intended Dose Distribution in a Cyclically Moved Target Area - The invention concerns a process for the deposition of an intended dose distribution in a cyclically moved target region moving cyclically (12-08-2011
20110303857Fast Scanning of a Target Region - The invention concerns a method for irradiating a target with a beam approaching target points, involving the following steps: Measuring at least one of the parameters relating to the position of the beam and the intensity of the beam, changing the beam as a function of the at least one measured parameter, particularly as a function of a variance relating to the at least one measured parameter. The method is characterized in that the at least one measured parameter is measured at the most once per target point. Furthermore, the invention concerns a device for irradiating a target in accordance with the invention-based method and a control system for controlling such a device.12-15-2011
20110303858Device and Method for Determining Control Parameters for an Irradiation Unit, Irradiation Unit and Irradiation Method - The invention concerns a device for determining control parameters for an irradiation system by means of which a number of irradiation doses are successively deposited at different target points in a target volume. The device comprises an input device which is designed for detecting a target region and for detecting a movement of the target region, an evaluation device for detecting control parameters for controlling a beam in such a way that with the help of the control parameters a beam is able to follow the movement of the target region and to deposit a defined dose distribution in the target region, wherein the evaluation device is designed in such a way that when detecting the control parameters at least a first selectable control parameter is detected so that the beam is able to follow the movement of the target region merely orthogonally to beam direction, or when detecting the control parameters, at least a first selectable control parameter and a further control parameter representing energy modulation are detected, wherein the determination of the at least first control parameter and the further control parameter is performed by considering motion tracking in beam direction.12-15-2011
20110306818Irradiation of a Target Volume, Taking into Account a Volume to be Protected - The idea concerns irradiation of a target volume (12-15-2011
20110309255Apparatus and Method for Evaluating an Activity Distribution, and Irradiation System - The invention relates to an apparatus for evaluating an activity distribution obtained in a moved target object by a beam that is generated by an irradiation device. Said apparatus comprises: a positron emission tomograph designed to record photons generated in the target object by the beam and generate measurement data representing points of origin of the photons; a movement detection device designed to generate a movement signal representing the movement of the target object; and an evaluation unit designed to associate the points of origin of the measured photons with positions in the target object with the help of the movement signal such that three-dimensional characteristics of the activity distribution actually generated in the target object can be evaluated by means of the photons generated by the beam. The invention further relates to an irradiation system and a method in which such an apparatus is used.12-22-2011
20120181428DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN IRRADIATION SYSTEM - The present embodiments relate to a device for controlling an irradiation system for irradiating a moving target volume. The device includes an evaluation device for evaluating a substitute movement signal. The device also includes an imaging device for recording image data of the moving target volume. The imaging device is activated or deactivated by a control device according to the evaluation of the substitute movement signal. The device includes an image evaluation device for evaluating the image data recorded by the imaging device, and an irradiation device that is activated or deactivated using an irradiation control device according to the evaluation of the image data.07-19-2012
20120187314IRRADIATION OR IRRADIATION PLANNING SYSTEM FOR A RESCANNING METHOD USING A PARTICLE BEAM - A method for irradiating a target volume includes defining a target region having a plurality of target points. The target points are individually approachable. The method includes defining a number of rescanning passes, in which the target region is scanned multiple times, such that the plurality of target points of the target region is approached variously often during the rescanning passes. At least some target points of the plurality of target points are not approached in all of the rescanning passes. The approaching of the plurality of target points is distributed among the rescanning passes such that for a target point of the plurality of target points that is not approached in all of the rescanning passes, at least one further rescanning pass, in which the target point is not approached, is located before a final rescanning pass, in which the target point is approached.07-26-2012
20120238795METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING DOSAGE APPLICATION DURING IRRADIATION - A method for controlling dosage application during irradiation of a moveable target volume in a body with an energy beam by scanning the target volume includes, before irradiating an i-th grid position, determining a dosage during the irradiation process using the movement data, wherein the dosage already contains the i-th grid position during irradiation of the previous grid positions (1<=k09-20-2012
20120241635IRRADIATION METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PERFORMING THE METHOD - A method actuates a device for irradiating an object that has at least one target volume to be irradiated and at least one volume to be protected. The method includes defining at least one signal dose value for the volume to be protected and irradiating the object at least one of at least at times and at least in part with hadron irradiation. A dose introduced into the volume to be protected during the irradiation of the object is determined and at least one signal is emitted as soon as the introduced dose exceeds at least one signal dose value in at least one point of the volume to be protected.09-27-2012
20120273666METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CHECKING AN IRRADIATION PLANNING SYSTEM, AND IRRADIATION SYSTEM - The invention relates to a method for checking an irradiation installation in which a dose distribution is deposited in a target object by means of a treatment beam, said method comprising the following steps: an irradiation planning data record optimised for the irradiation of a moving target volume is provided; a movement signal that reproduces a movement of the target volume is provided; a phantom is irradiated, said phantom being formed for detecting a dose distribution deposited in the phantom during or after the irradiation, using the control parameters stored at the irradiation planning data record and the movement signal; a dose distribution deposited in the phantom is determined; a dose distribution to be expected is calculated on the basis of parameters that are related to the control of the irradiation installation during the irradiation; and the determined dose distribution deposited in the phantom is compared to the calculated dose distribution to be expected. The invention also relates to a corresponding device and an irridation installation comprising such a device.11-01-2012
20130193352METHOD FOR SETTING UP A RADIATION PLANNING AND METHOD FOR APPLYING A SPATIALLY RESOLVED RADIATION DOSE - A method for drawing up an irradiation plan for a radiation-generating device that includes a plurality of irradiation positions that, at least one of partially or at times, correlate with at least one basic parameter that is present at a point in time of the implementation of the irradiation plan, includes giving greater consideration to correlations with the at least one basic parameter that are expected with greater probability for at least some of the irradiation positions.08-01-2013

Patent applications by Christoph Bert, Aschaffenburg DE

Christoph Bert, Ultenreuth DE

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20150123020IMPROVED ENERGY MODULATOR - The present disclosure relates to a particle energy modulating device for variably changing the energy of the particles of a particle beam. The particle energy modulating device has a variable energy varying device with a control value correcting device for correcting a supplied control value. The control value correcting device corrects the supplied control values through the use of previously determined calibration data.05-07-2015

Eric Thomas Bert, Woodbury, MN US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20110272404Access-Hole Cover for Support Structures - An access-hole cover for support structures, such as light poles, highway sign supports and other structures that have access holes providing access to the interior of the structure. The access-hole cover prevents or reduces water and other foreign objects from entering the interior of the structure, which can cause deterioration of the structure and components therein.11-10-2011

Huang Bert, Silver Spring, MD US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20130232094MACHINE LEARNING FOR POWER GRID - A machine learning system for ranking a collection of filtered propensity to failure metrics of like components within an electrical grid that includes a raw data assembly to provide raw data representative of the like components within the electrical grid; (b) a data processor, operatively coupled to the raw data assembly, to convert the raw data to more uniform data via one or more data processing techniques; (c) a database, operatively coupled to the data processor, to store the more uniform data; (d) a machine learning engine, operatively coupled to the database, to provide a collection of propensity to failure metrics for the like components; (e) an evaluation engine, operatively coupled to the machine learning engine, to detect and remove non-complying metrics from the collection of propensity to failure metrics and to provide the collection of filtered propensity to failure metrics; and (f) a decision support application, operatively coupled to the evaluation engine, configured to display a ranking of the collection of filtered propensity to failure metrics of like components within the electrical grid.09-05-2013

Jerome Jean Bert, Paris FR

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20120003085COMPRESSOR CASING WITH OPTIMIZED CAVITIES - The invention relates to a compressor for a turbine engine including a casing (01-05-2012

Luca Bert, Cumming, GA US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20100312960METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF CACHED DATA IN A DIRECT-ATTACHED STORAGE (DAS) SYSTEM - A DAS system that implements RAID technology is provided in which an array of solid state disks (SSDs) that is external to the DAS controllers of the DAS system is used by the DAS controllers as WB cache memory for performing WB caching operations. Using the external SSD array as WB cache memory allows the DAS system to be fully cache coherent without significantly increasing the complexity of the DAS system and without increasing the amount of bandwidth that is utilized for performing caching operations. In addition, using the external SSD array as WB cache memory obviates the need to mirror DAS controllers.12-09-2010
20110078433SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INSTALLING A BOOTABLE VIRTUAL STORAGE APPLIANCE ON A VIRTUALIZED SERVER PLATFORM - One embodiment is a method for installing a virtual storage appliance on a host server platform. One such method comprises: providing an installation package to a host server platform, the installation package comprising an installation script for installing an I/O virtual machine (IOVM), an IOVM boot console, and an IOVM management module; running the installation script to create a hidden boot partition on a boot disk and copy the IOVM boot console and the IOVM management module to the hidden boot partition; rebooting the host server platform; loading the IOVM boot console and the IOVM management module from the hidden boot partition; configuring a disk array via the IOVM management module; for each disk in the array, creating a hidden boot partition and replicating the IOVM boot console and the IOVM management module; and installing a virtual storage environment using the IOVM boot console as a storage driver.03-31-2011
20110161649SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR BOOTING A BOOTABLE VIRTUAL STORAGE APPLIANCE ON A VIRTUALIZED SERVER PLATFORM - One embodiment is a method for booting a bootable virtual storage appliance on a virtualized server platform. One such method comprises: providing a virtual storage appliance on a server platform, the virtual storage appliance configured to manage a disk array comprising a plurality of disks, and wherein at least one of the disks comprises a hidden boot partition having a boot console; powering up the server platform; loading boot code on the server platform; loading the boot console from the hidden boot partition; and the boot console loading boot components for a virtualization environment.06-30-2011
20110169254ACTIVE-ACTIVE FAILOVER FOR A DIRECT-ATTACHED STORAGE SYSTEM - Airbag inflators employ gas generating compositions formed from a mixture of fuels and a mixture of oxidizers and preferably mica at levels of 1 to 5% by weight. The gas generant composition contains a primary and secondary fuel. The primary fuel is a guanidine compound, preferably guanidine nitrate. The secondary fuel is selected from tetrazoles, triazoles and mixtures thereof at levels of 5% by weight or less of the total gas generant composition. The oxidizer system is a mixture of at least two components selected from the group consisting of transition metal oxides, alkali metal nitrates and alkaline earth metal nitrates. The novel gas generants yield inflating gases having a reduced content of undesirable gases such as nitrous oxides and carbon monoxide.07-14-2011
20110314218PARITY-BASED RAID SYSTEM CONFIGURED TO PROTECT AGAINST DATA CORRUPTION CAUSED BY THE OCCURRENCE OF WRITE HOLES - A RAID system is provided in which the RAID controller of the system causes a predetermined number, N, of IO commands to be queued in a memory element, where N is a positive integer. After the N IO commands have been queued, the RAID controller writes N locks associated with the N IO commands in parallel to a service memory device. The RAID controller then writes N stripes of data and parity bits associated with the N IO commands to the PDs of the system to perform striping and parity distribution. If a catastrophic event, such as a power failure, occurs, the RAID controller reads the locks from the service memory device and causes parity to be reconstructed for the stripes associated with the locks. These features improve write performance while preventing the occurrence of data corruption caused by write holes.12-22-2011
20120226853REDUNDANT ARRAY OF INEXPENSIVE DISKS (RAID) SYSTEM CONFIGURED TO REDUCE REBUILD TIME AND TO PREVENT DATA SPRAWL - A RAID system is provided in which, in the event that a rebuild is to be performed for one of the PDs, a filter driver of the operating system of the computer of the RAID system informs the RAID controller of the RAID system of addresses in the virtual memory that are unused. Unused virtual memory addresses are those which have never been written by the OS as well as those which have been written by the OS and subsequently freed by the OS. The RAID controller translates the unused virtual memory addresses into unused physical addresses. The RAID controller then reconstructs data and parity only for the unused physical addresses in the PD for which the rebuild is being performed. This reduces the amount of data and parity that are rebuilt during a rebuild process and reduces the amount of time that is required to perform the rebuild process. In addition, the RAID system is capable of being configured to prevent or reduce data sprawl.09-06-2012
20130036265METHOD TO ALLOW STORAGE CACHE ACCELERATION WHEN THE SLOW TIER IS ON INDEPENDENT CONTROLLER - The present invention is directed to a method for providing storage acceleration in a data storage system. In the data storage system described herein, multiple independent controllers may be utilized, such that a first storage controller may be connected to a first storage tier (ex.—a fast tier) which includes a solid-state drive, while a second storage controller may be connected to a second storage tier (ex.—a slower tier) which includes a hard disk drive. The accelerator functionality may be split between the host of the system and the first storage controller of the system (ex.—some of the accelerator functionality may be offloaded to the first storage controller) for promoting improved storage acceleration performance within the system.02-07-2013
20130042064SYSTEM FOR DYNAMICALLY ADAPTIVE CACHING - The present disclosure is directed to a system for dynamically adaptive caching. The system includes a storage device having a physical capacity for storing data received from a host. The system may also include a control module for receiving data from the host and compressing the data to a compressed data size. Alternatively, the data may also be compressed by the storage device. The control module may be configured for determining an amount of available space on the storage device and also determining a reclaimed space, the reclaimed space being according to a difference between the size of the data received from the host and the compressed data size. The system may also include an interface module for presenting a logical capacity to the host. The logical capacity has a variable size and may include at least a portion of the reclaimed space.02-14-2013
20130080679SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING THERMAL MANAGEMENT FOR A STORAGE CONTROLLER CACHE - The present invention is directed to a method for optimizing thermal management for a storage controller cache of a data storage system. The method allows for pending writes of a storage controller to be selectively provided to solid-state device (SSD) module(s) of the controller in a manner which allows operating temperatures of the SSD module(s) to be maintained within a thermal envelope.03-28-2013
20130080696STORAGE CACHING/TIERING ACCELERATION THROUGH STAGGERED ASYMMETRIC CACHING - A multi-tiered system of data storage includes a plurality of data storage solutions. The data storage solutions are organized such that the each progressively faster, more expensive solution serves as a cache for the previous solution, and each solution includes a dedicated data block to store individual data sets, newly written in a plurality of write operations, for later migration to slower data storage solutions in a single write operation.03-28-2013
20130275672SSD CACHE EXPANSION USING OVERPROVISIONED SPACE - The invention provides for SSD cache expansion by assigning all excess overprovisioned space (OP) above a level of advertised SSD memory to SSD cache. As additional SSD memory is needed to provide the advertised SSD memory, an offsetting portion of the OP is reassigned from excess overprovisioned space to the SSD cache. In this manner, the advertised SSD memory is maintained while continuously allocating all available excess OP to cache. The result is that all of the available SSD memory is allocated to cache, a portion to maintain the advertised SSD memory and the balance as excess OP allocated to cache. This eliminates idle OP in the SSD allocation.10-17-2013
20130282950SELECTIVELY PLACING DATA IN THERMALLY CONSTRAINED MEMORY SYSTEMS TO DYNAMICALLY ADAPT TO CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS - A method for selectively placing cache data, comprising the steps of (A) determining a line temperature for a plurality of devices, (B) determining a device temperature for the plurality of devices, (C) calculating an entry temperature for the plurality of devices in response to the cache line temperature and the device temperature and (D) distributing a plurality of write operations across the plurality of devices such that thermal energy is distributed evenly over the plurality of devices.10-24-2013
20140025890METHODS AND STRUCTURE FOR IMPROVED FLEXIBILITY IN SHARED STORAGE CACHING BY MULTIPLE SYSTEMS OPERATING AS MULTIPLE VIRTUAL MACHINES - Methods and structure for improved flexibility in managing cache memory in a storage controller of a computing device on which multiple virtual machines (VMs) are operating in a VM computing environment. Embodiments hereof provide for the storage controller to receive configuration information from a VM management system coupled with the storage controller where the configuration information comprises information regarding each VM presently operating on the computing device. Based on the configuration information, the storage controller allocates and de-allocates segments of the cache memory of the storage controller for use by the various virtual machines presently operating on the computing device. The configuration information may comprise indicia of the number of VMs presently operating as well as performance metric threshold configuration information to allocate/de-allocate segments based on present performance of each virtual machine.01-23-2014
20140068181ELASTIC CACHE WITH SINGLE PARITY - The invention provides an elastic or flexible SSD cache utilizing a hybrid RAID protocol combining RAID-0 protocol for read data and RAID-5 single parity protocol for write data in the same cache array. Read data may be stored in window sized allocations using RAID-0 protocol to avoid allocating an entire RAID stripe for read cache data. In the same SSD volume, dirty write data is stored in row allocations using RAID-5 protocol to provide single parity for the dirty write data. Read data is typically stored a window from the physical device having the largest number of available windows. Write data is stored in a row including the next available window in each arm, which decouples the window structure of the rows from the stripe configuration of the physical memory devices.03-06-2014
20140143496Self-Sizing Dynamic Cache for Virtualized Environments - A method and system for self-sizing dynamic cache for virtualized environments is disclosed. The preferred embodiment self sizes unequal portions of the total amount of cache and allocates to a plurality of active virtualized machines (VM) according to VM requirements and administrative standards. As a new VM may emerge and request an amount of cache, the cache controller reclaims currently used cache from the active VM and reallocates the unequal portions of cache required by each VM. To ensure cache availability, a quick reclamation amount of cache is immediately available to each new VM as it makes the request begins operation. After reallocation, the newly created VM may rely on a guaranteed minimum quota of cache to ensure performance.05-22-2014
20140173330Split Brain Detection and Recovery System - The invention provides for split brain detection and recovery in a DAS cluster data storage system through a secondary network interconnection, such as a SAS link, directly between the DAS controllers. In the event of a communication failure detected on the secondary network, the DAS controllers initiate communications over the primary network, such as an Ethernet used for clustering and failover operations, to diagnose the nature of the failure, which may include a crash of a data storage node or loss of a secondary network link. Once the nature of the failure has been determined, the DAS controllers continue to serve all I/O from the surviving nodes to honor high availability. When the failure has been remedied, the DAS controllers restore any local cache memory that has become stale and return to regular I/O operations.06-19-2014
20140201462Subtractive Validation of Cache Lines for Virtual Machines - A method and system for managing a cache for a host machine is disclosed. The method includes: indicating each cache line in the cache as being in a transitional meta-state when any virtual machine hosted on the host machine moves out of the host machine; each time a particular cache line is accessed, indicating that particular cache line as no longer in the transitional meta-state; and marking the cache lines still in the transitional meta-state as invalid when a virtual machine moves back to the host machine.07-17-2014
20140208005System, Method and Computer-Readable Medium for Providing Selective Protection and Endurance Improvements in Flash-Based Cache - A cache controller includes a cache memory distributed across multiple solid-state storage units in which cache line fill operations are applied sequentially in a defined manner and write operations are protected by a RAID-5 (striping plus parity) scheme upon a stripe reaching capacity. The cache store is responsive to data from a storage controller managing a primary data store. The cache store arranges the data differently based on the origin or type of data received at the cache interface. Line fill operations are placed in the cache memory without generating and storing corresponding parity information. When a sufficient number of write operations fill strips that constitute a full stripe are present in cache store, a corresponding parity strip is generated and stored in a strip location designated for storage of the parity information.07-24-2014
20140208024System and Methods for Performing Embedded Full-Stripe Write Operations to a Data Volume With Data Elements Distributed Across Multiple Modules - A data storage system and methods for managing data to be transferred between a host and a data volume distributed across solid state storage modules are disclosed. A storage controller couples the host to the data volume and manages data transfers to and from the logical volume. The storage controller receives a set of parameters that define how an array of blocks and chunks of buffered data will be distributed across solid state storage modules. The storage controller receives and buffers data to be stored and transfers the same when the capacity of the buffered data will fill a set of arranged stripes in the defined array in a single write operation.07-24-2014
20140223071METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REDUCING WRITE LATENCY IN A DATA STORAGE SYSTEM BY USING A COMMAND-PUSH MODEL - A data storage system is provided that implements a command-push model that reduces latencies. The host system has access to a nonvolatile memory (NVM) device of the memory controller to allow the host system to push commands into a command queue located in the NVM device. The host system completes each IO without the need for intervention from the memory controller, thereby obviating the need for synchronization, or handshaking, between the host system and the memory controller. For write commands, the memory controller does not need to issue a completion interrupt to the host system upon completion of the command because the host system considers the write command completed at the time that the write command is pushed into the queue of the memory controller. The combination of all of these features results in a large reduction in overall latency.08-07-2014
20140223094SELECTIVE RAID PROTECTION FOR CACHE MEMORY - A RAID controller includes a cache memory in which write cache blocks (WCBs) are protected by a RAID-5 (striping plus parity) scheme while read cache blocks (RCBs) are not protected in such a manner. If a received cache block is an RCB, the RAID controller stores it in the cache memory without storing any corresponding parity information. When a sufficient number of WCBs to constitute a full stripe have been received but not yet stored in the cache memory, the RAID controller computes a corresponding parity block and stores the RCBs and parity block in the cache memory as a single stripe.08-07-2014
20140258595SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM FOR DYNAMIC CACHE SHARING IN A FLASH-BASED CACHING SOLUTION SUPPORTING VIRTUAL MACHINES - A cache controller implemented in O/S kernel, driver and application levels within a guest virtual machine dynamically allocates a cache store to virtual machines for improved responsiveness to changing demands of virtual machines. A single cache device or a group of cache devices are provisioned as multiple logical devices and exposed to a resource allocator. A core caching algorithm executes in the guest virtual machine. As new virtual machines are added under the management of the virtual machine monitor, existing virtual machines are prompted to relinquish a portion of the cache store allocated for use by the respective existing machines. The relinquished cache is allocated to the new machine. Similarly, if a virtual machine is shutdown or migrated to a new host system, the cache capacity allocated to the virtual machine is redistributed among the remaining virtual machines being managed by the virtual machine monitor.09-11-2014
20140304464METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PERFORMING DEDUPLICATION IN A DATA STORAGE SYSTEM - A dedupe cache solution is provided that uses an in-line signature generation algorithm on the front-end of the data storage system and an off-line dedupe algorithm on the back-end of the data storage system. The in-line signature generation algorithm is performed as data is moved from the system memory device of the host system into the DRAM device of the storage controller. Because the signature generation algorithm is an in-line process, it has very little if any detrimental impact on write latency and is scalable to storage environments that have high IOPS. The back-end deduplication algorithm looks at data that the front-end process has indicated may be a duplicate and performs deduplication as needed. Because the deduplication algorithm is performed off-line on the back-end, it also does not contribute any additional write latency.10-09-2014
20140337578REDUNDANT ARRAY OF INEXPENSIVE DISKS (RAID) SYSTEM CONFIGURED TO REDUCE REBUILD TIME AND TO PREVENT DATA SPRAWL - A RAID system is provided in which, in the event that a rebuild is to be performed for one of the PDs, a filter driver of the operating system of the computer of the RAID system informs the RAID controller of the RAID system of addresses in the virtual memory that are unused. Unused virtual memory addresses are those which have never been written by the OS as well as those which have been written by the OS and subsequently freed by the OS. The RAID controller translates the unused virtual memory addresses into unused physical addresses. The RAID controller then reconstructs data and parity only for the unused physical addresses in the PD for which the rebuild is being performed. This reduces the amount of data and parity that are rebuilt during a rebuild process and reduces the amount of time that is required to perform the rebuild process. In addition, the RAID system is capable of being configured to prevent or reduce data sprawl.11-13-2014
20140344523System and Method of Selective READ Cache Retention for a Rebooted Node of a Multiple-Node Storage Cluster - The disclosure is directed to a system and method for managing READ cache memory of at least one node of a multiple-node storage cluster. According to various embodiments, a cache data and a cache metadata are stored for data transfers between a respective node (hereinafter “first node”) and regions of a storage cluster. When the first node is disabled, data transfers are tracked between one or more active nodes of the plurality of nodes and cached regions of the storage cluster. When the first node is rebooted, at least a portion of valid cache data is retained based upon the tracked data transfers. Accordingly, local cache memory does not need to be entirely rebuilt each time a respective node is rebooted.11-20-2014
20140351523System and Method of Rebuilding READ Cache for a Rebooted Node of a Multiple-Node Storage Cluster - The disclosure is directed to a system and method for managing cache memory of at least one node of a multiple-node storage cluster. According to various embodiments, a first cache data and a first cache metadata are stored for data transfers between a respective node and regions of a storage cluster receiving at least a first selected number of data transfer requests. When the node is rebooted, a second (new) cache data is stored to replace the first (old) cache data. The second cache data is compiled utilizing the first cache metadata to identify previously cached regions of the storage cluster receiving at least a second selected number of data transfer requests after the node is rebooted. The second selected number of data transfer requests is less than the first selected number of data transfer requests to enable a rapid build of the second cache data.11-27-2014

Patent applications by Luca Bert, Cumming, GA US

Luca Bert, Norcross, GA US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20130219214ACCELERATED REBUILD AND ZERO TIME REBUILD IN RAID SYSTEMS - A RAID data storage system incorporates permanently empty blocks into each stripe, distributed among all the data storage devices, to accelerate rebuild time by reducing the number of blocks that need to be rebuilt in the event of a failure.08-22-2013

Paolo Bert, Como IT

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20100099005VAPOR FED DIRECT HYDROCARBON ALKALINE FUEL CELLS - A direct hydrocarbon fuel cell device pertaining direct electro-oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels at the anode, which is separated electronically from the cell cathode by an alkaline medium, together with a fuel container, fuel delivery, and reaction product releasing system is disclosed. The fuel cell is constructed in such a manner that highly concentrated fuel is added to the cell anode chamber and transformed into fuel vapor through a fuel vapor permeable membrane before the fuel reaches the cell anode. At the cell anode, the hydrocarbon fuel is consumed and at the cell cathode oxygen reduction takes place, and water as one of the fuel cell reaction products is evaporated off at cell cathode so that there is no need for recirculation of unreacted fuel at the cell anode or water at the cell cathode. Compared to the prior art, the present invention for a direct hydrocarbon fuel cell is more suitable for portable electronics applications by maximizing the energy content in the fuel package, optimizing the fuel cell performance while minimizing the control system complexity, and lowering the cost by using non-noble metal based catalysts while achieving the needed fuel cell performance and conversion efficiency.04-22-2010
20100137460ELECTROCHEMICAL DEVICES CONTAINING ANIONIC-EXCHANGE MEMBRANES AND POLYMERIC IONOMERS - Electrochemical devices allowing high performances in resistance, thermal stability and conductivity comprising polymeric ionic exchange membranes and ionomers are described.06-03-2010
20110207001RECHARGEABLE ZINC-AIR BATTERY - Herein is disclosed a rechargeable zinc-air battery characterised in that the anode consists of essentially spherical copper particles covered by a layer of zinc.08-25-2011

Patent applications by Paolo Bert, Como IT

Paolo Bert, Lari IT

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20120103829DEVICE FOR THE PRODUCTION ON-DEMAND OF HYDROGEN BY ELECTROLYSIS OF AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS FROM DRY CATHODE - This invention relates to a device for the electrolytic production of hydrogen which can operate discontinuously or associated to strong power fluctuations and provide dry pressurized directly hydrogen, with high purity. The device for the electrolytic production of hydrogen from an alkaline aqueous solution, starting from dry cathode, comprises two half-cell, anodic and cathodic, separated by an anionic exchange membrane whose surface in contact with the cathodic half-cell is a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA), and the alkaline solution is present only in the anodic half-cell05-03-2012

Pascal Bert, Balma FR

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20130009809Multi-Spot Satellite System with Efficient Space Resource Allocation - A satellite system comprises at least one satellite that receives and transmits signals from/to user terminals located in a service area covered by a plurality of beams, frequencies used in each beam being allocated in order to allow frequency reuse. The beam sizes, the bandwidth used in each beam and the power density in each beam are chosen as a function of the user density in the service area.01-10-2013

Tom Bert, Lochristi BE

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20110242074METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COMPENSATING AGEING EFFECTS IN LIGHT EMITTING DIODE DISPLAY DEVICES - The present invention relates to a method for compensating ageing effects of pixel outputs displaying an image on a display device. The method involves displaying a first image on an active display area (10-06-2011
20110273482METHOD FOR PROCESSING AN IMAGE IN A DISPLAY - The invention relates to a method for processing an image, adapted for a display comprising a plurality of pixels, comprising the steps of setting, in dependence upon the image content, a portion out of the plurality of pixels to black for obtaining off-pixels thereby reducing the resolution of the display to a predefined value; and sequentially switching the position of the off-pixels over the plurality of pixels comprised by the display. In this way, a possibility for reducing or compensating for image retention in displays is provided.11-10-2011

Wayne Curtis Bert, Raleigh, NC US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20140103159Tunnel wing system for lift, altitude flight, and ground effect flight - Aircraft comprising a single wing suspended under a closed sided chassis. The wing spar is mounted to the sides that enclose and channel the airflow over and under the wing to provide lift. Airflow is provided by a source located in front of the wing by means of either propeller, ducted fan or similar devise. Engines mounted on a rotational engine mount can provide downward thrust to lift front of craft to obtain an angle great enough for lift-off Once aircraft has sustained-angle for lift off engine(s) rotate to produce airflow parallel to wing for flight. Rudders mounted behind the air source and prior to the wing provide steering.04-17-2014
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