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The world's frogs, toads and salamanders are in serious trouble. In fact, amphibian populations are not just declining, they're in free fall. Incredibly, some could be headed for extinction by 2033.
That was the disturbing conclusion of a first-of-its-kind study released by the U.S. Geological Service in late May. USGS calls this study the first "continental-scale estimate of a yearly rate at which the United States is losing amphibian populations and subpopulations."
Scientists from the USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) reviewed data on 48 amphibian species collected between 2002 and 2011 from 34 sites around the country. Though the ARMI researchers expected to find some species doing well, or at least better, the nine-year study instead found "a declining trend in every subset of data examined."
The USGS study was published in the journal PLOS One.
Nearly a third of the earth's amphibians — 1,856 species — are considered threatened, according to a recent assessment. Over the past 20 years, it is estimated that 168 species have become extinct, while nearly 2,500 more are declining in number.
Amphibians make particularly instructive subjects for study because their well being accurately reflects the overall health of the ecosystem in which they live. They sit squarely in the center of the food chain. Their permeable skin makes them especially sensitive to environmental disruptors. If something goes badly awry for amphibians, their woes are considered a warning bell for all other creatures.
That warning bell is ringing. Loudly. The USGS study revealed that frogs, toads and salamanders are disappearing from their habitats at an average rate of about 3.7 percent per year. Left unchecked, that rate of disappearance means that these species will be extinct within half of their current habitats within 20 to 26 years.
Worse yet, amphibian species classified as "threatened" are vanishing at a rate of 11.6 percent per year. They are expected to disappear from half of their habitats within a mere six years.
The ARMI research study did not evaluate the underlying causes of the declining amphibian population. However, many scientists believe that a combination of factors including disease, pesticide use, invasive species encroachment, habitat loss and climate change may be to blame.
This is "very bad news for amphibians," according to Brian Gratwicke, amphibian conservation biologist with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. "Now, more than ever, we need to confront amphibian declines in the U.S. and take actions to conserve our incredible frog and salamander biodiversity."
What's especially concerning about this situation is that these precipitous declines in population are occurring even on lands that are ostensibly protected areas, such as wildlife refuges and national parks.
"We knew there was a big problem with amphibians, but these numbers are both surprising and of significant concern," said USGS ecologist and lead study author Michael Adams.
He added that the fact that amphibian population losses "are occurring in our most protected areas adds weight to the hypothesis that this is a global phenomenon with implications for managers of all kinds of landscapes, even protected ones." Unexpectedly, researchers found a higher rate of decline on National Park Service lands compared to other types of land monitored during the study, but it was not clear why this should be so.
According to USGS Director Suzette Kimball, up to now, amphibians have been able to survive "countless changes that caused many other groups of animals to go extinct." She believes the findings of this study are noteworthy because it's clear "that the pressures amphibians now face exceed the ability of many of these survivors to cope."
Related Stories:
ICYMI: Amphibian Lovers Unite for Save the Frogs Day
Stop the Reptile and Amphibian Extinction Crisis
Record Breaking Petition Filed to Protect Reptiles and Amphibians
Read more: amphibians, ecosystems, endangered species, extinction, frogs, salamanders, toads
Photo Credit: Thinkstock
pretty frightening
one word answer "humans".....humans are destroying all living things
thanks for sharing
we need to protect our ecosytem...not destroy it!
Scary because this is the precursor to more mass extinctions...so sad...
If things keep going the way they have been, we will be the only species left on a barren world. Tehn again, we might be extinct too.
That's the reason why I asked the pest control company not to spray anything when they come for inspection. All I want them to do is to check for termites, which is a big problem in our tropical climate. I love hearing the frogs' mating calls in my garden when it rains. I'm surprised my neighbours haven't complained!
Burning of fossil fuels plus global warming plus pollution of the environment plus destruction of the amphibians' natural habitats equals destruciton of their food sources, destruction of their food chain and death.Destructive and damaging human activities which are detrimental to amphibians and their natural habitats are responsible for their decline and nothing else. It's the same with all species of animals and destruction of their natural habitats through pollution or removing their homes and/or food sources. Look at any article that mentions declines in animal species and loss of habitats. They all say the same thing.
I have found two toads in my garden so far this year. I big one and a little tiny one. I just moved here last August & have tried to work my magic with the place which was disgraceful when I moved in. I now have a back yard wonderland which includes my covered deck. Stuff for toads & birds & me. Lots of native plants & a mulched area under two trees where it was all muddy. The toads love it there & I even have a ceramic toad house.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
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Frank Sinton | March 11, 2014 | Comments
In the last few weeks, signs are emerging that the dark ages of TV advertising may be nearing an end. Frankly, it's about time. The TV content delivery landscape has evolved to the point where digital advertising tactics could be applied if there was just the will do to so.
Over the last few years, the online and digital advertising industry has evolved at breakneck speed, with new innovations popping up almost faster than advertisers and agencies can keep up. Advancements such as real-time bidding, hyper-local targeting, cross-platform ad coordination, and much more - all based on the ability to track user data (both demographic and usage) and deliver ads accordingly - are now commonplace.
The TV advertising market, meanwhile, has remained stagnant for the last 50 years. But in the last few weeks, signs are emerging that those dark ages may be nearing an end. Cox Media's recent decision to partner with a programmatic ad platform to sell its linear TV ad inventory marks a huge and much-needed step toward changing the TV ad landscape. Also notable is Comcast's move to buy streaming video ad firm FreeWheel, and Adap.tv's launch of its much-anticipated programmatic TV buying platform.
Frankly, it's about time. The TV content delivery landscape has evolved to the point where digital advertising tactics could be applied if there was just the will do to so. Set-top boxes are Internet-connected and are capable of capturing the same type of data that Web-based networks can - think TV guide browsing data, viewing history, DVR settings, on-demand orders, etc. All of this can and is being tracked and stored, but not used for any advertising purposes.
That will soon change, as the Cox deal shows. Content companies are using the data to create better user interfaces that drive customers toward more programming (see Comcast's new X1 platform, for instance). If this data can be used to create programming recommendations, certainly it can also be used to serve more targeted advertising as well.
Imagine for instance four different households watching the same show - a family with two children, a single twenty-something male, a housewife, and an elderly couple - but each receiving different ads based on their personal demographic and viewing history. It happens every day online and on mobile or tablet devices, but the $70 billion TV advertising industry remains in the dark ages.
These recent moves mentioned above are just the start of the coming sea-change. Other trends that will accelerate this evolution are the consolidation of the multi-system operators (Time Warner/Comcast anyone?) and the increasing competition they face from new media content companies like Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and Hulu. Once Google TV, the much-awaited Apple TV, and the next-generation gaming consoles start taking on a greater hold in the living room (and disrupting further both the ad and content delivery ecosystem), you can bet the behemoth incumbents will get motivated to make some changes.
Of course, a few things need to happen before we get there. First, all this data needs to be aggregated and compartmentalized. It's true set-top boxes can collect data, but there's no consolidation of that data yet. Second, we need to determine just how to serve targeted ads via TV. The potential for distributing different ads to different people is there, but the process for doing so has yet to be built. And third, we need a process for noting user behavior across devices and formats. There's no single or standard login across TV, mobile, online, and tablet across multiple services. Some, like Apple TV, are trying to own that entire ecosystem through one user account, but viewers tend to use multiple services and formats. Bundled service offering is one possible solution, as is the use of third-party social networking accounts, or even profiling types of user behavior instead of the users themselves.
Technology aside, there also needs to be a change in behavior. Advertising agencies need to break down their silos between old-media TV advertising and new-media advertising. They need to operate as one, interoperable, and coordinated unit. And there needs to be some cooperation between the different service providers as well. A while back, the Canoe effort brought six of the biggest cable operators together to create a unified standard for targeting and interactive advertising on TV. That effort failed in part because the competing services didn't work together.
Ultimately, the goal should be to create one, unified, cross-platform media buy allowing ad campaigns to target users regardless of device used or format of ad delivered. It's a bold vision and one that will take some work to achieve. But everyone involved - brands, agencies, tech platforms, and of course the viewers themselves - all stand to gain if we can make it happen.
Pro Rank Tracker is a cutting-edge ranking tracking tool for keeping you up-to-date with all the latest changes in the rankings of your websites and videos.
Frank Sinton is the CEO of Beachfront Media, a video solutions platform for publishers, advertisers, and enterprises. Previously, he worked for Sony Pictures Entertainment as Executive Director of Architecture. Beachfront Media is the everywhere video company that provides solutions for video discovery, video syndication, and video app development for managing and monetizing video applications across screens and devices. For More information, please visit www.beachfrontmedia.com.
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UFC Tonight is bringing you the hottest breaking news in the UFC! We've got title shots, big name brawls and even a certain super-fight that you might be interested in featuring a Mr. Anderson Silva. watch video >>


text: Can I Trademark My Hashtag? Posted By pashalaw 247 days ago on Law http://www.pashalaw.com - If your business wants to use a hashtag as part of a marketing campaign, can you trademark it? Share News Can I Trademark My Hashtag? Twitter Facebook Google + Linkedin Reddit Delicious Digg Tumblr FriendFeed Slashdot Vote 2 Bury


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I love it when my wife plays with herself while we are intimate...i believe it heightens both of our pleasure
I have and will again...Loved how much it turned my wife on...
This is something that I have been thinking about for a while now..My wife is very sensitive after we cum so it's hard for her to let me go down on her..would love to fulfill this one day..
http://fapgif.com/ppp_o/cumshot-pussy http://fapgif.com/ppp_o/cumshot-pussy http://fapgif.com/ppp_o/cumshot-pussy
OH My..!!!
I made one for my GF years ago..went to the local hobby store and bought some plaster of paris and silicone...turned out pretty good..IMHO.
I've done a good bit of Europe, I would go back in an instant...I would love to go to Australia, New Zealand..
and here's another..http://fantasti.cc/user/lefty_30/videos/upload/Cum-in-wifeys-panties/40495/
http://up.xhamster.com/000/029/169/581_1000.jpg Another great post Papapooh44...What i would give to be on that couch with them...
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|Search | About | Preferences | Interact | Help
|Find any book at the best price.
by Alcoholics Anonymous World Service
Publisher:Alcoholics Anonymous World Serv Inc
The fourth edition includes twenty-four new stories that provide contemporary sharing for newcomers seeking recovery from alcoholism in A.A. during the early years of the 21st century. Sixteen stories are retained from the third edition, including the "Pioneers of A.A." section, which helps the reader remain linked to A.A.'s historic roots, and shows how early members applied this simple but profound program that helps alcoholics get sober today. Approximately 21 million copies of the first three editions of "Alcoholics Anonymous" have been distributed. It is expected that the new fourth edition will play its part in passing on A.A.'s basic message of recovery. This fourth edition has been approved by the General Service Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous, in the hope that many more may be led toward recovery by reading its explanation of the A.A. program and its varied examples of personal experiences which demonstrate that the A.A. program works.
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Take a vacation from your regular wardrobe routine by spending a day lounging in this carefree mint dress! An elegant fuchsia print adorns the sheer, cool mint overlay of this spaghetti-strap shift, creating a look as calming and vibrant as the meadow in which you recline. Accompanied by strappy sandals, a wide-brimmed sunhat, a picnic blanket, and your favorite book, this dress is a one-way ticket to fashion paradise!
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Houston v Memphis
David Pellom, Shaq Goodwin and Chris Crawford and of the Memphis... News PhotoBasketball - Sport,Bench,Celebration,Chris Crawford - Basketball Player - Born 1992,FedExForum,Full Length,Houston Cougars,Memphis - Tennessee,Memphis Tigers,Men's College Basketball,NCAA,Sport,Tennessee,USA,University of Houston,VerticalPhotographer Joe MurphyCollection: Getty Images Sport 2014 Joe MurphyMEMPHIS, TN - JANUARY 23: David Pellom #12, Shaq Goodwin #2 and Chris Crawford #3 and of the Memphis Tigers celebrate from the bench against the Houston Cougars on January 23, 2014 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis beat Houston 82-59.(Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)


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HERAT, Afghanistan — Nine-year-old Ali Sena Nowruzee's disappearance was disturbingly predictable, even in a city largely untouched by the Taliban and often held up as an example of what a peaceful Afghanistan might look like.
As in dozens of other kidnappings targeting Herat's burgeoning middle class, residents assumed that he would be released once his family delivered tens of thousands of dollars in ransom. Instead, the rosy-cheeked third-grader became famous here after the discovery of his body, hastily buried on the city's outskirts.


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Sarah Howery Model
Brittany JanieceModel Female Moline, Illinois, US
My Website: FacebookMy MM URL: http://www.modelmayhem.com/brittanyjb89
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About Me
Hello MM im Brittany Im 21 years old and i am currently working from the quad city area. ive been modeling for about 4 years and i absolutely love it..As of now my main goal is meeting new contacts and getting more in touch with the industry. Im interested in creating some edgy images as well as glamour and high fashion. But really i am a very open person and willing to try almost everything... I do not do nude shots (sooorry).. But if u have some great ideas that u would like to see come to life let me know!
Feel free to contact me if you are interested in working with me
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KCBA-TV owner Seal Rock Broadcasters, LLC, is slated to abandon a longstanding joint sales agreement with Cowles California Media Group and enter into a new contract with Entravision Communications Corp. at the end of this year, Entravision announced Wednesday.
Under the new joint sales agreement, Entravision will handle sales and marketing for Seal Rock in exchange for a percentage of the profits, said Aaron Scoby, senior vice president of Entravision. He noted the programming provided by KCBA-TV, a Fox affiliate, will remain the same.
The new agreement replaces a similar contract ...


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You are here
BBT multiple readings
Since 8/2011
I have only been charting my BBT for about 2 weeks and recently I have been waking up in the middle of the night at different times. Sometimes I get out of bed, sometimes I just lay awake for a few minutes then fall back asleep, sometimes I toss and turn for the remainder of the night. On those nights that I do wake up I always take a reading. I then take a second reading when my alarm goes off (so the readings are take between 4-6am and then again at 7:25am). I have been so confused as to what to plot! The second reading is always higher. So here is the question: If BBT is the LOWEST TEMP that your body achieves during a 24-hour period, shouldn't I always plot the LOWEST reading of the night regardless of what time it was taken? If I plot the 7:25 time every day, my graph looks totally different from if I plot only the lowest readings. My 7:25 readings would suggest that I ovulated this week, but not my true lowest temps...
Since 7/2011
Its all so difficult sometimes!!!
Hopefully, even though temps are taken at diff times, you can still see a general pattern in your chart.
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Sarah - OvaCue Specialist
- Check out my OvaCue Blog!
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Blues By The Bay – April 8, 2006 at 12:00pm
Democracy Now! is a daily independent award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.Democracy Now
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"Hospitals can be congratulated for this major milestone. Yet there is more that we can do, and will continue to do," said Josh Miller, sustainability coordinator for Spectrum Health, a nine-hospital system in Michigan. "In our quest to become more sustainable, we've prevented 123,629 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions since 2008 by using reusable sharps containers. Efforts like the Sharps Management Service become a mandate for patient safety, for employee safety and for the environment," noted Miller.
"As a leader in healthcare, we are committed to sustainability efforts that protect people and reduce risk. We started the service in 2004 and are proud to be part of a national movement of healthcare facilities that reached this milestone and contributed to reducing carbon footprints," said Andy Lorio, assistant vice president of support services at Ochsner Health System in Louisiana.
(1) Sharps are medical devices that include needles, scalpels and other objects.
(2) The University Chicago Medical Center, 2009
(3) Schwartz, Judith D. "Putting Health Care on an Energy Diet." TIME, November 10, 2008.
About Stericycle:
Lake Forest, IL-based Stericycle (NASDAQ: SRCL) is a leader in healt
|SOURCE Stericycle, Inc.
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Breakfast For Dinner Anyone? [POLL]
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I love breakfast food and looks like I'm not the only one!
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I love breakfast food and looks like I'm not the only one!
Each has been called "Texarkana's Best" at one time or another so we wanted to ask you to make sure... which of these is really Texarkana's Best Golf Course?
Big Brother, are you watching it this summer? If you are then let me just say...OMG!
Who doesn't want to make more money? But, what if you only made more money on the condition you had to work with people you didn't like? Which do you think is more important?
A few months ago I heard that some country artists were going to make a tribute album to Motley Crue. Yeah, I was a bit confused too!
The new season of Dr. Who starts August 23 on BBC. There is a new Dr. Who! I can't believe this makes the 12th Dr. Who!
It seems T.V. is a wasteland of reality shows, but hey...they are addictive! It seems the lives of reality t.v. stars lives are filled with drama. Would you want to really be a part of it?
It's almost that time! Time for summer vacations! Some people have already planned their vacations and others...at least are dreaming about getting away from it all.
Oh my! Really? A car with no steering wheel or pedals? A car where you have NO Control?
The very first song Rascal Flatts ever sang together was...
Filming for the new Star Wars VII is going on right now and the movie won't be released until December 2015. Everybody including me, is excited about the fact that a few original cast members will be back!
We all know and actually kinda love Godzilla. He's been around forever! I remember watching the Godzilla movies on T.V. as a kid. The new Godzilla movie that opened this past weekend proves we all still love that big scary lizard!


text:
Legionnaires who recruit 50 or more new members (transfers do not count as new members) into The American Legion by the May target date qualify for enrollment in The American Legion's elite Gold Brigade. These Legionnaires will be awarded unique gifts that designate affiliation with the Gold Brigade of The American Legion.
In 2013-2014, Gold Brigade recipients recruited nearly 7,500 new members into the Legion. Click here [2] to see a list of the Gold Brigade Award recipients and the number of times they have earned the elite status.
First-time Gold Brigade members will receive a Gold Brigade patch, a special Gold Brigade cap pin, a Gold Brigade certificate, and a designer jacket or polo shirt or sweater with a Gold Brigade logo. Second time/repeat Gold Brigaders will receive a Gold Brigade patch and certificate, a hash mark for a jacket sleeve, and a designer jacket or polo shirt or sweater with a Gold Brigade logo. A Gold Brigader who has won the award for five consecutive years is eligible for a distinctive Gold Brigade blazer. A Legionnaire may only qualify once every five years. And a Gold Brigader who has earned the award for at least six consecutive years or more is eligible for a $150 check and a Legion cap with the inscription "Master Recruiter."
The American Legion also awarded 54 Legionnaires with the Silver Brigade Award. A Legionnaire who recruits 25-49 new members (transfers do not count as new members) into The American Legion by the May target date qualify for this award. A silver pin and certificate will be awarded. In total, the 2013-2014 Silver Brigade recipients recruited nearly 1,700 new members. Click here [3] to see the Silver Brigade Award recipients.
[1] http://www.legion.org/print/223200
[2] http://www.legion.org/documents/legion/word/2014GOLDBRIGADE.docx
[3] http://www.legion.org/documents/legion/word/2014SILVERBRIGADE.docx


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Sunnyvale, CA (PRWEB) November 21, 2013
SIGNL, a service that tracks the fastest-growing companies worldwide, ranked Clinovo at 9th position among 494 companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology industry. From startups to big businesses, SIGNL measures the success of a company's engine by aggregating and quantifying evidence of a business growth.
At the 9th position, Clinovo performed significantly well among 494 biotechnology companies, which included some of the leading pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology companies in the industry such as Illumina, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, OncoMed, Acorda, Intermune and more.
SIGNL's sophisticated ranking algorithms measured and compared thousands of companies' key performance indicators and presence on the internet over the last few months. The ranking is based on measurable metrics, including web traffic increase, web mentions, and detailed metrics on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Clinovo's website has increased by 194% over the last three months and Clinovo's Twitter followers grew to 728, a 96% increase in the same period of time.
With this ranking, Clinovo demonstrates its active online presence with strong participation in industry-related discussions. The company regularly releases new white papers, blog posts, and webinars. Also very active offline, the California-based CRO sponsors several national clinical trial events every year including SCDM (Society for Clinical Data Management), PharmaSUG, Outsourcing in Clinical Trials as well as DIA (Drug Information Association). Clinovo also organizes the
|Source: PRWeb
Copyright©2012 Vocus, Inc.
All rights reserved


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Glen Younes: Ed Reed Will Play
As Heard On MaD Radio September 19, 2013 1:35 PM
MAD Radio Read More
Glen Younis, from 107.5 in Baltimore, firmly believes that Ed Reed will play on Sunday against his former team. Does he know something that we don't? What would it mean for this team to have Reed ready to go on Sunday?


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Jesus Rides to Work by ExogenBreachWatch
©2008-2015 ExogenBreach
Now that's what I call a faith warrior.
Good stuff, I like it. I'm having a contest with the theme Jesus + Harry Potter - hope you enter. Maybe you can do something similar?
Prize is $250.
DEVIANT: [link]
JPHC Website: [link]
Prize is $250.
DEVIANT: [link]
JPHC Website: [link]
Holy shit. This is so American they could use it at the Super Bowl or something.
lol is that a toy raptor under there?
thats intense >_>
bwaaaaahahaha! great shop.
Holy crap! did you find this in a CAT scan of Bush's head?
You think Bush is capable of coming up with something as complicated as this?
LAWLZNESS. It's perfect.
like in Postal 2, "baby jesus christ says: bullets are seeds of victory"...terribe.
xDDD That's bad ass.
Reminds me of Dr. McNinja and his sidekick Gordito, a boy who wields twin pistols and rides a raptor named Yoshi.


text:
"Potatoes are totally different to grow than other crops," says Paul McDonald of WJ Siemens Farming in Winkler, Manitoba. "When you're in it, you're in it."
One thing has never changed at Martin Farm in northern Maine. Come September, generations of the family and hired workers are in the fields picking potatoes by hand.
Bayer CropScience today announces the launch of its third annual #Thankful4Ag campaign, a national social initiative dedicated to helping feed families in need in the U.S. and educating consumers about their food.
More than 25 years have passed since children at Katahdin Elementary School in Stacyville, Maine, were released from classes to harvest potatoes, but every year, fourth-graders at the school still get a taste of a traditional harvest.
This time of year, farmer Ben VanderWeele spends nearly every morning the same way. He oversees hundreds of tons of potatoes as they're cleaned, set on a conveyor belt and put into storage.
Read current issue online!
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© 2015 Potato Grower® Magazine | Published by Harris Publishing, Inc.
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text:
The RiffTrax Blog
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Entries from October 2011
No longer updated
October 21st, 2011 by Conor Lastowka · 4 Comments
The RiffTrax Blog
Tags: RiffTrax


text:
Shows a picture of a glass cantilever
15 Dec 2009
This image shows a glass cantilever. I actually have a video file where one can see the movement of this glass cantilever ( from left to right). The aim is to track the movement of the glass cantilever. Ideally, it would be nice to track a single point on the cantilever but if not, it would also be ok, I guess, to track the cantilever as a whole.


text:
Netflix Built Its Own Monitoring System - and Why You Probably Shouldn't
Roy Rapoport shares some of the lessons Netflix learned building a monitoring system, the challenges, pitfalls and opportunities encountered along the way.
Cluster Management at Google
John Wilkes shares lessons learned managing clusters at the scale of Google.
Delivering GOV.UK: DevOps for the Nation
Anna Shipman explains how the GOV.UK team implemented the DevOps culture – the people, the process, and the technical details of what tools they use and how they are integrated.
Deis + Mesos: Docker PaaS at Scale
Gabriel Monroy demonstrates using Deis to orchestrate Docker deployments, as well as Deis' integration with popular schedulers like Fleet, Mesos, and Kubernetes.
Continuous Delivery the French Way!
Arnaud Pflieger, Baeli Dimitri present their practices and tools: Octopus-a git branching model, no dedicated testers, no ops, Selenium, Zeno – a diff tool comparing production and staging code.
Consul: Service-oriented at Scale
Armon Dadgar presents Consul, a distributed control plane for the datacenter. Armon demonstrates how Consul can be used to build, configure, monitor, and orchestrate distributed systems.
Containerization Is More than the New Virtualization
Jérôme Petazzoni borrows from his experience at Docker Inc. to explain live applications running in Docker, including reading logs, remote access, and troubleshooting tips.
Real-world Docker: Past, Present, and Future
Jeff Lindsay talks about the history and future of Docker, and shares some of his cutting-edge tooling for deploying systems with Docker.
Simplify Cloud Applications using Spring Cloud
Scott Frederick and Ramnivas Laddad introduce the Spring Cloud project, show how you can simplify configuring applications for cloud deployment, discuss its extensibility mechanism, and much more.
Spring Your Apps into the Cloud with a PaaS
Grant Shipley deploys an application to the cloud and then turns up the heat by leveraging the right mix of elasticity and auto-scaling.
Unikernels: Who, What, Where, When, Why
Adam Wick explains the promise of unikernels (single-purpose, lightweight virtual machines) and shares experiences about when unikernels are appropriate solutions and when they are not.
The Four Pillars of DevOps: Agility for the Enterprise
John Shaw discusses four pillars to DevOps: Environments, Deployment, Testing and People based on experiences developing financial systems for governmental clients.


text:
I have never had the pleasure of meeting Ram Dass in person. When I was 13, my parents sent me to yoga and meditation classes because they thought I had insomnia and it would help. (What they didn't know was that I was desperately bored in school and reading science fiction books by flashlight all… Read more »
Posts Tagged: compassion
Winter Camp
As I have said before, when I first met Babaji I was not at all interested in sadhus or saints. It was out of sheer grace that he visited our house. Although many unusual things were happening, we failed to realize their importance or to see his hand in them. His visits meant some thrill… Read more »
Death is a Reminder to Live Life Fully
Ram Dass – Death is a Reminder to Live Life Fully In Eastern traditions, the state of consciousness at the last moment of life is considered so crucial that you spend your whole life preparing for it. Mahatma Gandhi, the great Indian leader, walked into a garden to give a press conference and was assassinated…. Read more »
The Power of the Beloved
All methods are traps. In my relation to my guru, at first my love was so strong, all I wanted to do was rub his feet and look at his form and just be around him. Then, as time went on, not that the love grew less, the love grew different, until I was very fulfilled just being at a distance in relation to him. It kept growing deeper and deeper until I really didn't care whether I was with his form anymore.


text:
is there any information on what IP Range Spotify is using? I am at work and Spotify is only enabled on WiFi. However for certain features at work I have to be in the LAN. So normally I am switching interfaces during the day quite often to keep Spotify up and running. My idea was to route the whole Spotify network thru the other interface.
I found several IP Adresses for spotify.com that all start with 78.31.8. so I added the hole 18.104.22.168/24 network to my route list for routing thru my WiFi interface but still Spotify claims to be in offline mode.
Any other IPs I should reroute for this to work?
Best regards,
Please bear in mind that the Community is not an official Spotify support service. It's a place where we all help each other, whether we work for Spotify or not. So please use your discretion when using the forum.


text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Nov 30, 1993
|Filing date
|Feb 20, 1992
|Priority date
|Feb 20, 1992
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Neil G. Bartow, Paul J. Brown, Robert S. Capowski, Louis T. Fasano, Thomas A. Gregg, Gregory Salyer, Patrick J. Sugrue, Douglas W. Westcott, Vincent P. Zeyak, Jr.
|Original Assignee
|International Business Machines Corporation
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (8), Non-Patent Citations (4), Referenced by (12), Classifications (15), Legal Events (6)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data communications systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to data communication systems using optical fibers to carry information.
B. Related Art
Fiber optics enable the transmission of long string of data in a serial fashion from a driver to a receiver at long distances (kilometers) at very high data rates (billions of bits per second). This is in contrast to traditional electrical wires which allow data to be transmitted for only short distances at these data rates (10's of meters).
High performance computers require system buses between elements of a computing system to have even higher bandwidths (100's of millions of bytes per second). The use of a single fiber optic cable running at its maximum bandwidth can be insufficient to serve as a system bus between elements of a computing system.
In the prior art, a classical solution to the problem of inadequate bandwidth on a single carrier is to transmit the bits of each data word, in parallel, one over each of a plurality of carriers (a parallel bus). Another solution, known as striping, entails sending a plurality of serial data words, in parallel, one over each of a plurality of carriers. These solutions, however, share a common problem in that skew can develop between the parallel bits or words as they are sent over the bus.
Skew is a propagation time variation between the fastest and the slowest carrier. If not handled properly, such propagation time variations can cause data errors at the receiver. Skew can be caused by differences in the physical characteristics of the driver, receiver and transmission medium for each carrier of the bus.
There are two general categories of skew. One is random skew (RSKEW) and appears as jitter. Sources of this skew are due to clock synchronization and null word insertion. The other type of skew is systemic (SSKEW) in that one transceiver is always slower or faster than another by a fixed amount of time. Differences in carrier propagation times are a typical source of the systemic type of skew.
The transmitter, carrier, and receiver each introduce skew. Below is a description of how each of these elements introduces skew.
Transmission launch skew is the time difference between the start of frame of the earliest transmitter and the start of frame of the latest transmitter. This type of skew is measured at the transmitters. There are three sources of transmission launch skew. The first is random and is caused by the synchronization of the transmitter clock to the system clock. Where the all transmitter clocks are locked to a common reference clock, and there is a common system clock synchronization point, the launch skew can be as small as one bit time, or even less. The second source of transmission launch skew is also random and is caused by null insertion. The third source of transmission launch skew is systemic and is due to differences in internal signal propagation times from transceiver to transceiver. Any reasonable physical design should limit this skew to several bit times.
A significant amount of skew is caused by the characteristic of the carrier itself. The carrier skew is simply the difference in propagation times between the slowest and fastest carriers in a link. This skew is almost entirely systemic. Slight variations can occur over time due to environmental changes such as temperature. Thus, it should be understood that even if a plurality of frames are launched at the same time, they are likely to arrive at different times because of the carrier skew.
Skew can also be caused by the characteristics of the receiver. There are two sources of skew in the receiver. The first is random and is caused by the synchronization of the system clock to the receiver clock. The second source of receiver skew is systemic and is due to differences in internal signal propagation times between different transceivers. As with the transmitter, any reasonable physical design should limit this skew to several bit times.
To avoid data errors of the type which can be caused by skew, some means for synchronization of the parallel bits is conventionally employed. Traditional parallel bus designs use a common clock to achieve synchronization. This solution, while workable, is inefficient in that the common clock typically causes the data collection to be performed in lock step, at a speed limited at the upper end by the slowest bit path transmission time.
Thus what is needed is an improved method for transmitting data words over a plurality of carriers such as multiple fiber optic filaments.
The present invention comprises a system and method for asynchronously transmitting data blocks, in parallel, across multiple carriers in a serial manner. Frame groups are provided as a mechanism to transmit associated data serially on each fiber and tie the data being transmitted together. The receiver is provided with a previously measured maximum skew value for a given link. Using this information, the receiver determines which frames are part of a frame group by the arrival times of the individual frames.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the transceivers for each member of the parallel bus asynchronously achieve synchronism at each end of the fiber. Thus the need for a common clock is eliminated. The receivers on each side of the bus determine the relative skew for each conductor by performing skew measurements on a series of calibration frames generated by the transmitters on the other side of the bus. When the skew on all conductors, viewed from both sides of the bus, has been determined, the skew values are exchanged across the bus, thus enabling the transmitters to set proper frame spacing.
Advantageously, skew measurement according to the present invention enables data to be sent across a link comprising a multi-carrier bus, limited only by the maximum bandwidth of the link itself rather than by the worst case theoretical skew. According to an embodiment of the present invention, data integrity is ensured by first measuring the relative skew values for the carriers in a link, at the time that the link is established or reinitialized. After the relative skew values have been determined, they are exchanged between both sides of the link and a connection is established having the start-to-start spacing of transmitted frames limited to the worst case (largest) skew value measured by the receivers. Since frames can be made very large, a significant amount of data can be sent across the link, at the maximum link bandwidth without concern for skew. Further, where large data frames are used, the bandwidth limiting effect of limiting the start-to-start frame spacing to the worst case skew value for a given link can be kept at a minimum.
The present invention will be better understood by reference to the drawing in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a physical link between two computing elements;
FIG. 2 is an illustration of the format of an exemplary frame;
FIG. 3 is an illustration of the format of an exemplary frame group;
FIG. 4 is a logic diagram of an exemplary transmitter;
FIG. 5 is a logic diagram of an exemplary receiver;
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a skew test procedure.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart summary of the skew test/measurement procedure as view from a receiving end of the link.
FIG. 8 is a flow chart of frame reception and frame group integrity checking in a receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Like reference numerals appearing in more than one FIGURE designate like elements
Turning first to FIG. 1, a physical link between two computing elements 102, 104 is illustrated. These elements could be, for example, two computers or a computer and a shared memory device. In any event, the computing elements 102, 104 are connected by way of an intersystem channel link 106 comprising a fiber optic bus 108. The fiber optic bus 108 is formed of multiple fiber pairs 110. Each fiber pair consists of two optical fibers, one for transmitting information and one for receiving information. While any number of fiber pairs can be used, exemplary values for intersystem channels would be a range of 1 to 64 fiber pairs in powers of two. The fiber pairs 110 of the fiber optic bus 108 are coupled to the computing elements 102, 104 by way of transceivers 112, 114 located at opposite ends bus. Each of the transceivers 112, 114 includes a transmitter unit and a receiver unit, both of which will be described in more detail later.
Data is sent across the link from an originator buffer 116 in a transmitting computing element. The received data is then collected and temporarily stored in a recipient buffer 118 in a receiving computing element. Although one buffer is shown in each of the computing elements of FIG. 1, it should be understood that a computing element can dynamically set up various numbers of originator and/or recipient buffers depending on the number and type of links to be established. The buffers 116, 118 can be of the "store-thru" type, meaning that they need not be filled before they are unloaded. This type of buffering has the advantage of lower transmission and reception latency times.
The information to be sent is divided up among the fiber pairs 110 that form the fiber optic bus 108. The information is sent from the originator buffer 116 to the recipient buffer 118 in the form of frames. Each frame is transferred on a single fiber of the bus 108. More information on configuration of the link and the structure of the buffers are contained, respectively, in copending applications entitled CONFIGURABLE, RECOVERABLE PARALLEL BUS to Bartow et al. (Ser. No. 07/839,657) and HIGH PERFORMANCE CHANNELS FOR DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS to Bartow et al. (Ser. No. 07/839,652), both assigned to the same assignee as the present application and filed on even date herewith and both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
The format of an exemplary frame is illustrated in FIG. 2. Each frame starts with a link-control word (LC) 202. Various fields in the link-control word 202 identify the frame format and type, designate a buffer area, and control the state of the transceiver and link.
A link-control-CRC (cyclical redundancy check) word 204 follows the link-control word. The link-control CRC word 204 is conventionally generated from the values in the link-control word. The link-control CRC word is checked at the receiver to test the validity of the link-control word in the incoming frame.
There are two types of frames, control frames and information frames. Control frames do not require an information field. They consist only of a link-control word and a link-control CRC word. An information frame has a link-control word 202 a link-control CRC word 204 and an information field 206. Information fields contain, for example, from one to 1,024 words. The information field is used to send information from a buffer area at one end of the link to a buffer area at the other end.
An information field is followed by an information-field CRC word 208. The information-field CRC word is conventionally generated from the values in the information field. The information field CRC word is checked at the receiver to test the validity of the information field in the incoming frame.
Related information can be placed in several frames, one on each transceiver of the operational link. These frames (referred to as a "frame group") are transmitted concurrently. There are can be as many frames in the group as there are transceivers in the operational link. FIG. 3 shows an exemplary frame group 302. The use of the frame group enables the data to be sent at a bandwidth that is multiples of the single fiber optic bandwidth since multiple frames (one per fiber) are transmitted simultaneously across the link.
Although not provided with sequence numbers, the link control words in each frame group are interlocked with those of subsequent and previous frame groups. The interlocking can be accomplished in a number of different ways. For example, each transmission may start with a request, followed by data, followed by an acknowledge. Each of these types of transmissions having a unique link control word. Further, a sending and/or recipient buffer address can be sent within the link control words. Thus data transmissions from (and/or directed to) different buffers will have different link control words.
In the preferred embodiment, frames associated with the same buffer and the same type of frame group may have the same link control words. For example a given message may include 16 data frames, 15 of which will have the same LC and one of which will have a distinct LC in that it includes a bit indicating the start of a buffer area. In this case, a lost frame among the 15 having an identical LC can not necessarily be detected by comparing the LCs in each received frame group. Instead, either the comparison of LCs in the last frame group will detect the problem because a frame belonging to the next frame group (of a different type and having a different LC) has been received, or the skew timer will expire (as described later). In either event, the receiver will detect that all data has not been received for the buffer area. This is accomplished by comparing the total number bytes actually received with the total transmitted byte count which is included as part of every LC.
As an alternative embodiment, the transmitter can ensure that the link control words in each frame group are identical with each other, but are different than those in the immediately previous and subsequent frame groups.
Information from a originator buffer is sent across the link in one or more frame groups. When several frame groups are used to transmit the contents of one buffer, the frame groups may be sent in a sequence corresponding to the ascending order of the words in the buffer. For example, groups of lower numbered words are sent before groups of higher numbered words. When the operational link comprises more than one transceiver, the buffer contents are sent in units of words on a transceiver basis. That is to say, the words are distributed across the transceivers (and thus the fibers), modulo the number of transceivers in the link (e.g. transceiver 0 has word 0, 4, 8, 12 in a four transceiver operational link).
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the transceivers for each carrier of the bus asynchronously achieve synchronism at each end of the fiber. Thus the need for a common clock is eliminated. Various means for synchronizing frames transmitted as serial data over a signal conductor are known in the art and thus will not be discussed in detail here. An example of such synchronization means is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,714 to Chen et al. and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.
Each fiber and its associated transmission and reception hardware has differing propagation characteristics which result in skew. Skew is the propagation time variation between the fastest and the slowest fiber. Reception of a start of a frame on any fiber causes the receiver to start checking for reception of the complete frame group and to reassemble the received frames of data in the recipient buffer. The receiver determines which frames are part of a frame group by the arrival times of the individual frames and the contents of the link control words. If all of the frames of a frame group are not received within an established skew window or if the link control words received within the skew window are not identical, a skew error is recognized.
The skew rules, according to an embodiment of the present invention, set the skew window in which all frames of a frame-group must be received in order to receive a valid message. The rules also set the rate at which consecutive frame groups can be transmitted so that frames of one frame-group are not confused with frames of another frame-group. Further, examination of link control words for consistency within a given frame group protects the system from "lost frame" effects.
For a given link, the skew of frame groups measured at the receiver varies by plus or minus the random skew (RSKEW) component. The maximum RSKEW component is set by the design of the link hardware while the systemic skew (SSKEW) component is largely due to the optical cable installation. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a measurement of the total skew (the optical and random components) is made at the time the link is initialized to ensure that the it does not exceed set limits and further to ensure that frames belonging to a common frame group are properly identified as such by the receiver.
An exemplary transmitter unit according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 4. A four transceiver link is shown. The individual transmitters (one for each fiber optic carrier) are shown as XMIT0 402, XMIT1 404, XMIT2 406, and XMIT3 408. It should be understood that the transmitter of FIG. 4 can be operated using fewer than four carriers (e.g. 3, 2 or 1) by gating out selected transmit portions.
The internals of XMIT0 402 are shown. Along with the data paths (not shown), each transmitter has an input named START 410 which starts frame generation. Each transmitter also has an output called READY 412 which indicates that the current frame transmission has ended, and that the skew wait time has elapsed.
Within each transmitter there is a WAIT register 414 which is initialized at link initialization time. The value in the WAIT register 414 is the number of words which must be transmitted between LC (Link Control) words. The Wait register 414 is connected to a 3 input multiplexor (MPX) 416. The output of the MPX 416 is connected to a wait counter register (WCNTR) 418. The output of the WCNTR 418 is connected to decrementer (-1) 420, an 8 input nand circuit (=0) 422 detecting a value of zero in the WCNTR 418, and back to a first one (A) of the MPX 416 inputs (A-C). The output of decrementer 420 is connected to the third data input (C) of the MPX 416.
The channel starts a frame when all four transmitters are ready (i.e. all transmitters are idle and the minimum LC word to LC word spacing time has elapsed) by turning on the START line 410 for 1 cycle. This line causes each transmitter to begin frame transmission. When the Outbound Frame State Machine (OFSM) 424 sends the LC (indicated on line 426), the END 428 and MET 430 Shift Register Latches (SRLs) are reset, and the value in the WAIT register 414 is gated through the MPX 416 and the WCNTR 418. As words are sent on the link, the Data Request line (DR) 432 is active, and the WCNTR 418 is decremented via the decrementer 420 and MPX 416 circuits. The End Of Frame (EOF) may become active before, during, or after the WCNTR 418 reaches the value of zero. The EOF line 434 sets the END SRL 428, and the 8 input nand circuit 422 sets the MET SRL 430. When both SRLs 428, 430 are on, the output of the AND circuit 436 is active, and all conditions have been satisfied for the start of the next frame for that transceiver.
The READY lines 412 from the transmitters set the RDY0 438, RDY1 440, RDY2 442, and RDY3 444 SRLs. The outputs of these SRLs are connected to a 4 input AND circuit 446. When all 4 RDY SRLs are set, the output of the AND circuit 446 indicates that all 4 transmitters are ready to start the next frame. The output of this AND circuit 446 is also used to reset the RDY SRLs 438-444.
An exemplary receiver unit according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 5. A four transceiver link is shown. The receivers are shown as RCV0 502, RCV1 504, RCV2 506, and RCV3 508. The data paths 560 (A-D) from each receiver contain the current LC detected by the receiver. The output lines 510 (A-D) are active for 1 cycle each time a new LC is detected by the corresponding receiver. The contents of the data paths 560 (A-D) are compared by the gated compare logic (COMPARE) 562, and are also selected by the gated multiplexor (MPX) 564.
The Set-Reset latches (S-R latches) V0 528, V1 530, V2 532, and V3 534 are set by the respective lines 510 (A-D) from the receivers. When a receiver detects a new LC, the corresponding S-R latch 528-534 is set. The four S-R latches 528-534 control the MPX 564, and are inputs to the first-in first-out buffer (FIFO) 568, a four input AND gate (A) 538, and a four input OR gate (0) 536. The four OR gates 570-576 each have two inputs. One input is a line 510 (A-D) from a corresponding one of the receivers, and the other input is the output of a corresponding one of the S-R latches 528-534. The output of these OR gates 570-576 signal to the COMPARE 562 and determines which of the data paths to compare.
The skew measurement function is performed by a counter (SCNTR) 518 which is fed from a second multiplexor (MPX) 512. The second multiplexor 512 gates either a zero value 514 or the incremented value (+1) 516 to the skew counter (SCNTR) 518. The SCNTR 518 is an eight bit register. The output of the SCNTR 518 feeds an equal-to compare circuit (=) 588 and the incrementer (+1) 516. The other input to compare 588 is from the output of a register (SKEW) 594. When the value in SCNTR 518 is equal to the value in SKEW 594, the output of the compare circuit 588 is active. The value in SKEW 594 is set by a microprocessor (not shown) over line 596.
The FIFO 568 stores an LC selected from one of the receivers along with summary information describing which of the receivers detected the LC. The write line 586 to the FIFO 568 is controlled by a four input or (0) circuit 598. The microprocessor reads entries in the FIFO 568 over a data bus 590 by activating the read line 584.
As with the transmitter unit, receivers for any of the carriers can be gated out of the system under control of the microprocessor via a control register (not shown).
Operation of an exemplary receiver unit according to an embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in FIG. 5 starts with the receipt of an LC by at least one of the receivers and finishes with a write operation to the FIFO 568. When the first LC is received by one or more of the receivers RCV0 502, RCV1 504, RCV2 506, and RCV3 508, the corresponding S-R latch 528-534 is set. The output of OR circuit 536 is activated which starts the increment of the SCNTR 518. When all four LC's are received, all four S-R latches 528-534 are set and the output of AND gate 538 is active (HIGH). This output feeds an inverter 580 which, in turn, feeds an AND gate 540. Thus, when AND gate 538 is active (HIGH) the output of AND gate 540 is deactivated (LOW) which, in turn, stops the SCNTR 518 through AND gate 540 and OR gate 599. If all LC's have been received and they all compare equal (as detected by COMPARE 562) the output of AND gate 582 is active. This output feeds OR gate 598 which, in turn, causes a write into the FIFO 568. Along with the LC from the MPX 564, summary information describing which receivers have an LC is also stored in the FIFO 568.
If an LC is damaged by transmission noise on the link, it is not detected by the receiver. When this happens the output of AND circuit 538 does not activate, and the SCNTR continues to count until its value reaches the value in SKEW 594. At this point, the output of the compare circuit 588 becomes active and it feeds OR circuit 598 which causes an entry to be made into the FIFO 568. In this situation, the summary information in the FIFO 568 indicates which of the receivers did not receive an LC.
Another possible result of a damaged LC is the apparent overlap of two different frame groups. Suppose that two frame groups reach the receivers with the minimum LC to LC spacing, and suppose that the first frame of the first group is damaged and discarded. In this case, the activation of the output of OR gate 536 is delayed until the next LC of the first frame group is received. This delay also starts the SCNTR 518 later. After all of the undamaged LC's have been received, the SCNTR 518 is still running. At this point the first frame of the second frame group may arrive. If the LC of this frame is different that the other LCs at the input of COMPARE 562, the output of COMPARE 562 will activate (since there is a non-compare of the LC's indicating that the LC's are from two different frame groups). An inverter (N) 566 detects the non-compare and feeds OR gate 598 which, in turn, causes a entry into the FIFO 568. The summary information indicates the LC and the receivers which detected this LC. The action of OR gates 570-576 bypasses the delay caused by the S-R latches 528-534 so that the LC which caused the non-compare is not included in the summary information.
OR gate 592 receives inputs from AND gates 544-550. Each of the AND gates 544-550 detects if its respective receiver receives an LC before the previous LC (from the same receiver) has been entered into the FIFO 568. Specifically, the AND gates 544-550 detect when a new LC is received (as indicated by lines 510A-D respectively) before the S-R latches 528-534 have been reset. This situation can occur only if the transmitter feeding the receivers does not obey the skew rules established at initialization time. The output of OR gate 592 feeds OR gate 598 which causes an entry to be made into the FIFO 568. The summary information includes the output of OR gate 592.
In all of the above situations, each time a FIFO 568 entry is made, the S-R latches 528-534 are reset. In the case of the LC non-compare, the S-R latch for the receiver which caused the non-compare is set even though the reset line is active. This is so because the S-R latches' set function overrides the reset function. Also, each time a FIFO 568 entry is made, the SCNTR 518 is reset to zero by the action of OR gate 599 and MPX 512.
It is noted that the transmitters 402-408 of FIG. 4 are not synchronized by a common clock. Similarly, the receivers 502-508 are also not synchronized with one another by a common clock. Instead, each time the link is established the transmitter and receiver pairs achieve synchronization with each other in an asynchronous manner, just as if they connected by the only carrier in the link. Further, the receivers 502-508 use reception of the frames themselves, the skew rules and LC checking as described above to ensure that frames within the same frame group are properly identified as such. Advantageously, this eliminates the need for synchronizing hardware.
A flow diagram of a skew test/measurement procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 6.
When skew measurements are to be performed, any transceiver may send a skew-test-request (STR) control frame 602 (or a replicated STR control frame) out on the link. By replicated, it is meant that an identical copy of a given frame (e.g. the STR frame) is transmitted on each carrier within a 2.5 word time transmit window. The skew-test-request frame includes a link control word identifying it as an STR. Nodes on both sides of the link may send out a skew test request at the same time. In this case, the node with the higher address becomes the master (i.e. controls the skew measurement procedure) and the node with the lower address becomes the slave. If only one node has sent the STR frame, it becomes the master and the recipient becomes the slave notwithstanding the relative node address.
Once a skew-test-request frame is received by any one of the receivers of the slave receiver unit (and the master slave relationship is established), the slave receiver unit places itself into a skew measurement mode (thereby causing its internal logic to respond as described below), resets its skew counter value to zero, and sets the skew register 594 to a predetermined initial value (e.g. 255). It should be understood, however, that another initial value could alternatively be chosen based on actual experience with a given system. The slave node then sends back a replicated skew-test-response control frame 604. This frame indicates to the master that the slave is ready to begin the skew measurement procedure.
In response to receipt of a skew-test-response frame, the master receiver unit also places itself into skew measurement mode, resets its own skew counter to zero, loads its skew register 594 with an initial value (e.g. 255) and sends out a replicated skew-measure-request (SMR) control frame 606.
When the first slave receiver(s) 502-508 receive the first skew-measure-request frame, the slave receiver unit determines whether all of the frames have arrived within the skew value indicated by the skew register 594. If not, the receiver unit's microprocessor checks the summary information in the FIFO 568 to determine which frame(s) were late (i.e. not received within the skew value indicated by the skew register 594). The receivers detecting the late frames are gated out and are not used in subsequent skew tests. The identity of these receivers and the skew register value is stored in the microprocessors local storage for later use. Next, a new value (e.g. 254) is loaded into the skew register and then the slave sends a replicated skew-measure-response control frame across the link on all carriers (including those whose receivers have been gated out).
The skew-measure-response frame has the same effect on the master receiver unit as the skew-measure-request frame has on the slave receiver unit. Specifically, the master determines which frames were received within the skew value indicated by its skew register 594, outgates the late receivers and loads a new skew value in its skew register. When this has been accomplished, the master sends a replicated skew-measure-request frame across the link on all carriers.
In response to this skew-measure-request frame, the slave receiver unit determines whether all of the frames (received on receivers that have not been gated out) have arrived within the new skew value indicated by the skew register 594. If not, the slave receiver unit's microprocessor again checks the summary information in the FIFO 568 to determine which frame group(s) were late. The receivers detecting the late frames are gated out and are not used in subsequent skew tests. Also, the identity of the gated out receivers is also stored in the microprocessors local storage for later use. Next, a new value (e.g. 253) is loaded into the skew register and then the slave sends a replicated skew measure response control frame across the link on all carriers (including those whose receivers have been gated out).
The above described process continues iteratively (e.g. 614) until a relative skew value has been determined for each receiver on both sides of the link (i.e. until all but one receiver has been gated out or the skew register has been decremented to zero). When the slave has measured the relative skew for all receivers, it sets a bit in the skew measure response frame 616 indicating that the measurement is complete. When the master determines that skew measurements on both sides of the link are complete, it sends a skew-results-request (SRR) control frame 622 across the link. In response, the slave sends a skew results response control frame 624 (one on each carrier) back across the link. These frames include the measured skew values for the slave receivers (e.g. carrier 0=1, carrier 1=0, carrier 2=6, carrier 3=2). Each of the skew values is indicative of a number of word transmit times (e.g. 2=2 word transmit times). It should be understood that the skew measurements are all made relative to the fastest carrier(s). Thus the fastest carrier(s) (i.e. the first to arrive across the link) will always have a relative skew value of zero. The skew value returned in the skew results response may also include a padding value added to each measurement. This padding value can be used to compensate for random skew (jitter).
Once the skew-results-response frame has been received, the master can send an establish-transceiver-group (ETG) control frame 626. This request is used by the originating (master) node to elicit responses from the set of transceivers at the recipient (slave) node and also to set the intended link (the set of carriers that will be used to establish communications) at the slave. The request is sent as a replicated frame on all of the carriers that have passed the skew test (e.g. have a relative skew value of 254 or less). The parameter field of the ETG request contains the largest of the skew values determined by the master receivers. The master can also add a pad value in a similar manner as the slave (in sending the skew results response). This value determines the link-control-word to link-control-word spacing that is required for any frame groups that are to be sent by the slave.
In response to the ETG request, the slave sends an ETG response frame 628 (which is replicated on carriers on which the ETG request was received). The master node checks the ETG response to ensure that it has been received on each of the carriers on which the ETG request was sent. If the master node receives the ETG responses an all transceivers of the intended link, the link is established using the carriers designated by the ETG frames. If not, a link can be retried or established using a subset of the carriers comprising those which are operational. In that event, the master sends another skew results request to the slave and the slave again responds with the previously measured skew. Only the maximum skew on the intended link carriers is used to determine the minimum frame spacing.
Advantageously, the skew measurement method according to an embodiment of the present invention can determine the total skew including the systemic (SSKEW) and random (RSKEW) elements thus reducing or eliminating the need for pad values depending on the confidence level required. In such an embodiment, the operation of each carrier at a given skew value (in the skew register 594) is verified by repeating the skew test a multiplicity of times (e.g. 100) at that value. If a carrier can not pass the skew test even once (i.e. a replicated frame is not received within the tested skew window), it is considered to not be within the tested skew window as indicated by the skew register.
A summary of the skew test/measurement procedure as viewed from a receiving end of the link is illustrated in FIG. 7. Once the receiver unit is in skew measurement mode, in step 702 it measures the relative skew for all carriers on the bus. Once the measurements have been accomplished on both sides of the link, in step 704 the measured worst case skew values are exchanged across the link. In the case of a slave node, the measured skew values for each carrier are sent across the link to the master. Finally, in step 706, once the exchange is complete, the receiver unit ends skew test/measurement mode and awaits a command from the system or link.
A summary of the method used by the receiver unit to receive and verify a frame group is illustrated in FIG. 8. In step 802 the receiver unit receives the first frame or frames in a frame group. In response, in step 804 the receiver unit starts its skew counter to measure elapsed word times and continuously compares the elapsed time against the maximum measured skew value for the established link. If at any time before all frames have been received (or an error has been detected), the elapsed time matches the worst case skew value (as detected in step 806), in step 808 the receiver unit is reset to receive a new frame group (which includes resetting the skew counter) and an error is reported.
In parallel, in step 810, as frames arrive their link control words are compared to ensure that they are all identical. If any newly arrived link control word does not match those for the other received frames (detected in step 812) in step 808 an error is signaled and the receiver unit is reset to receive a new frame group. The non-comparing frames are considered to be part of the new frame group and are treated by the receiver as such.
If the newly arrived frames compare, a test is made in step 814 to determine whether all the frames in the frame group have been received. This is a matter of comparing the active carriers, as indicated by the receiver unit's control register, with the received and properly comparing frames. If all frames have not yet been received, in step 816 the receiver continues to wait for additional frames to be received and continues the comparison and time measurement process as described above. If all frames have been received before the worst case measured skew time has elapsed, the receiving end of the link signals complete and the receiver is reset to receive the next frame group.
In summary, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the skew rules are as follows:
All transceivers must start transmission of the link-control word (LC) within 2.5 word transmission times across all of the drivers sending a frame group. A word transmission time is the amount of time it takes to launch (transmit on to the link) a word of information (32 data bits plus 8 bits of encoding information in the present embodiment).
Start-to-start spacing of link-control words of back-to-back frames on a single driver may be no closer than the value that is established during the skew test procedure. The start-to-start frame spacing is contained in the establish-transceiver-group request or the largest skew value returned in the skew results response frames.
If a link control word is received on a single receiver with less separation from the previous link control word than the start-to-start frame spacing as determined above, the frame is discarded as described by the function of OR gate 592.
Transceivers check to see that link-control words for each frame group are received within a predetermined time span from arrival of the first frame on the link. The length of the time span is specified by the maximum measured (worst case) skew value as determined by the skew test and can be optionally padded with a model dependant value that allows for long term jitter. The checking is performed only on the transceivers that are the members of the intended link as defined by the ETG request frame group sent or received and recognized.
If a frame group is received with a skew error, the frame group is rejected, or discarded as appropriate. Transceivers that fail a skew check are logged out for maintenance purposes.
Many variations and modifications which do not depart from the scope and spirit of the invention will now become apparent to those of skill in the art. Thus, it should be understood that the above described embodiments have been provided by way of example rather than as a limitation.
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|Adaptive data link protocol
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|Optical fiber system
|IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 5, No. 7, Dec. 1962, pp. 68 69, Deskewing Using Last . . . Byte by E. W. Miller.
|IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 5, No. 7, Dec. 1962, pp. 68-69, "Deskewing Using Last . . . Byte" by E. W. Miller.
|IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 6, No. 8, Jan. 1964, pp. 100 101, A System For Deskewing Tape Signals by A. Scherr et al.
|IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 6, No. 8, Jan. 1964, pp. 100-101, "A System For Deskewing Tape Signals" by A. Scherr et al.
|Citing Patent
|Filing date
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|Nov 4, 1993
|Jun 13, 1995
|International Business Machines Corporation
|Skew measurement for receiving frame-groups
|Jun 1, 1993
|Oct 3, 1995
|Gregg; Thomas A.
|Error detection and recovery in parallel/serial buses
|Oct 19, 1992
|Jul 2, 1996
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|Aug 15, 1996
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|International Business Machines Corporation
|System and method for management of object transitions in an external storage facility accessed by one or more processors
|Mar 14, 2001
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|Mcdata Corporation
|Striping data frames across parallel fibre channel links
|Oct 31, 2003
|Sep 22, 2009
|Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
|Logical ports in trunking
|Oct 31, 2003
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|Brocade Communication Systems, Inc.
|Frame traffic balancing across trunk groups
|May 10, 2011
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|Oct 8, 2009
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|Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
|Frame traffic balancing across trunk groups
|Apr 13, 2011
|Dec 25, 2012
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|U.S. Classification
|714/700, 370/282, 370/503
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Feb 20, 1992
Owner name: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, NEW Y
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.;ASSIGNORS:BARTOW, NEIL G.;BROWN, PAUL J.;CAPOWSKI, ROBERT S.;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:006037/0166;SIGNING DATES FROM 19920219 TO 19920220
|Jan 27, 1997
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 4
|Jun 26, 2001
|Maintenance fee reminder mailed
|Jun 15, 2005
|Maintenance fee reminder mailed
|Nov 30, 2005
|Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees
|Jan 24, 2006
|Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee
Effective date: 20051130


text:
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Press 195
Sandwiches are at the center of Press 195, the Long Island offshoot of a Brooklyn original. Hardly a grab-and-go, this is a strikingly attractive spot with a well-chosen roster of brews and wines.
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text:
"Too often physicians in India and other developing countries only have the rabies vaccine to offer, and that alone isn't always enough to prevent infection," said Deborah Molrine, MD, deputy director of clinical and regulatory affairs at MassBiologics and an associate professor of pediatrics at the Medical School, who helped design the clinical trial and will oversee the analysis. "If this new antibody proves effective in people, it will have a tremendous impact on saving lives."
In the Phase 1 trial just launched in India, a total of 84 healthy volunteers will receive various doses of the new MAB to test the tolerability and biologic activity of the MAB in people. The site investigators will monitor the volunteers' overall health and do clinical laboratory testing for safety. Scientists at MassBiologics will test blood samples drawn from the volunteers to measure the amount of MAB in the bloodstream, and to see if the volunteers produced any of their own antibodies directed against the new MAB. Scientists from the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory will test the blood samples against the rabies virus in culture, to determine the dose of MAB administered to the volunteers that gave the best protective response.
The Serum Institute of India is the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines and is a major supplier of the rabies vaccine. Scientists from the MassBiologics worked with their counterparts in India to help the Serum Institute build its own internal MAB production facility, thereby bringing this leading-edge biologics technology to India for the
|Contact: Michael Cohen
University of Massachusetts Medical School


text:
Audio Samples
Track List
Album Notes
Personnel: Keith Jarrett (piano); Mladen Gutesha (conductor); Jan Garbarek (soprano & tenor saxophones); Stuttgart Symphony Orchestra (strings).
Recorded at Studio Bauer, Ludwigsburg, Germany on April 29 & 30, 1975.
Composer: Keith Jarrett.
Composer: Keith Jarrett.
Personnel: Jan Garbarek (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone).
Recording information: Bauer Studios, Ludwigsburg, Germany (04/29/1974/04/30/1974).
Photographers: Kira Tolkmitt; Terje Mosnes.
Keith Jarrett does not actually play on this CD; rather, he composed three angst-ridden pieces of varying lengths for string orchestra, over which Jan Garbarek improvises on tenor and soprano saxes. The concept is not unlike that of Stan Getz's Focus, but this music is far more static, downcast, and free of the pulse of jazz. As was characteristic of his writing then, Jarrett's string parts are mostly turgid and thick-set, indulging in weird, sliding microtones on "Windsong," weighted down by some kind of emotional burden. Particularly when delivering piercing sustained notes on soprano, Garbarek often sounds like a native of the Middle East. The strings are from the Stuttgart Radio Symphony, led by Mladen Gutesha, who faithfully executes Jarrett's dolorous wishes. ~ Richard S. Ginell
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See Also
- Sleeper: Tokyo, April 16th, 1979 (Jarrett, Keith)
- Sleeper: Tokyo, April 16th, 1979 (Jarrett, Keith)
- Hommage a Eberhard Weber (Burton, Gary (Vibes))
- Hommage a Eberhard Weber (Burton, Gary (Vibes))
- My Song (Jarrett, Keith)
- My Song (Jarrett, Keith)
- My Song (Jarrett, Keith)
- My Song (Jarrett, Keith)
- Dansere (Stenson, Bobo)


text:
In an increasingly interdependent world full of both crisis and opportunity, people around the globe must find ways to solve problems together, former President Bill Clinton said Wednesday.
In an increasingly interdependent world full of both crisis and opportunity, people around the globe must find ways to solve problems together, former President Bill Clinton said Wednesday.
"Truman was right. Being a good neighbor, more than ever before, is the best policy," Clinton said in accepting the annual Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award.
In a speech that ran more than 45 minutes, Clinton drew parallels between the challenges Truman faced in the years after World War II and the complex issues the world faces today.
"It makes a difference if you see people not as statistics but as people," he said.
He pointed to positive trends around the globe: more girls going to school, more girls staying in school through college, fewer babies dying in their first year of life, the spread of technology
"There's a lot to be optimistic about," he said.
But there are problems, too: an unequal distribution of wealth, which can constrain growth; unsustainable patterns of energy use; climate change; and divisions along lines of identity although through a greater awareness of humanity's commonalties "we keep widening the circle of 'who is we?' and shrinking the domain of 'who is they?'"
"We have to be much more careful with more people on Earth ... so we don't wreck the planet," Clinton said, but he hastened to add that none of those problems is unmanageable.
The key, he said, is to involve as many people and as many viewpoints as possible to get the best answers.
"And when you have complicated problems with a lot of moving parts you need many perspectives," he said.
Clinton repeatedly equated being a good neighbor with being a good citizen.
"Being a good neighbor in the 21 century requires the ability to see all those complex conflicts in human terms," he said.
Truman succeeded because he stayed focus on, as Clinton put it, purpose, people, policy and politics.
"And all of us have to do that," Clinton said. "We can learn a lot from Harry Truman's example."
Truman's ability to communicate plainly and clearly served the country and the world well when, for example, he pushed the Marshall Plan, explaining to Americans why it was in the country's interest to help rebuild Western Europe into a prosperous, secure model of freedom in opposition to communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
"He had an understanding of people and concern for people. ... There was a human element to everything he did," he said.
Many of today's challenges cross borders and require broad cooperation, he said.
"We've got to be able to work around the corner, around the world. Harry Truman got that," Clinton said.
Page 2 of 2 - The Good Neighbor Award is given at a luncheon on or near Truman's birthday, May 8. In 1953, when Truman had just left office, Kansas City area friends organized the first luncheon, and it became an annual event. The award was started in 1973, the year after Truman died. It has been given to dozens of senators, judges, journalists, military figures and others. Clinton is the second president to receive it. Gerald Ford was given the award in 1977.
On Wednesday, the annual Philip Pistilli Silver Veterans Medal was given to Sgt. Logan Black, who served as a combat engineer in Iraq. He worked with Diego, a bomb-sniffing Labrador retriever, to find improvised explosive devices, saving many lives
Black said if challenges in places such as Iraq are approached the right way, "we can and will have a lasting effect on these communities."
Clinton said Black downplayed the dangers he and Diego – who also was given an award – faced in Iraq.
"He is a real hero," the former president said, "and I'm grateful that you gave him the award."
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People's United Financial, Inc. (PBCT)
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People's United Financial (PBCT)
Q4 2011 Earnings Call
January 19, 2012 5:00 pm ET
Previous Statements by PBCT
» People's United Financial's CEO Discusses Q3 2011 Results - Earnings Call Transcript
» People's United Financial's CEO Discusses Q2 2011 Results - Earnings Call Transcript
» People's United Financial's CEO Discusses Q1 2011 Results - Earnings Call Transcript
Peter Goulding -
Kirk W. Walters - Chief Financial Officer
Ken A. Zerbe - Morgan Stanley, Research Division
Mark T. Fitzgibbon - Sandler O'Neill + Partners, L.P., Research Division
David Darst - Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Research Division
Casey Haire - Jefferies & Company, Inc., Research Division
Damon Paul DelMonte - Keefe, Bruyette, & Woods, Inc., Research Division
Michael Young
Michael Turner - Compass Point Research & Trading, LLC, Research Division
Collyn Bement Gilbert - Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc., Research Division
Matthew Brandon Kelley - Sterne Agee & Leach Inc., Research Division
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the People's United Financial, Inc. Fourth Quarter Earnings Conference Call. My name is Carris, and I will be your cooperator for today. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this call is being recorded for replay purposes. And I would now like to turn the presentation over to Mr. Peter Goulding, First Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations for People's United Financial, Inc. Please proceed, sir.
Peter Goulding
Good afternoon. And thank you for joining us today. Jack Barnes, President and Chief Executive Officer; Kirk Walters, our Chief Financial Officer; along with Jeff Hoyt, our Controller, are here with me to review our fourth quarter results. Before we get started, please remember to refer to our forward-looking statements on Slide 1 of our presentation, which is posted on our website, peoples.com, under Investor Relations.
With that, I'll turn the call over to Jack.
John P. Barnes
Thank you, Peter. Good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today. Now is a good time of the year to reflect on the past year, as well as our goals for 2012. You will recall that throughout 2011, we have had 2 primary objectives: optimizing existing businesses and efficiently deploying capital. In 2011, we executed well against both of these goals. We've now integrated 5 acquisitions since 2010 and taken out more cuts -- costs than were estimated at the time of each transaction. Integration and systems conversions have become a core competency for this organization.
Further, we've become very focused on organic loan and deposit growth, having entered the large new markets of the Boston and New York City MSAs. Our momentum is based on our 170-year-old brand and outstanding customer service throughout the financial crisis. We offer the full breadth of products and services our customers need while providing a true relationship-based solution. All of this was accomplished while retaining strong asset quality, solid capital levels and a 5% dividend yield.
Our 2011 financial results show substantial improvement. Operating earnings grew $112 million or 89% year-over-year. Likewise, our operating return on average assets was 91 basis points, up 34 basis points or 60% over 2010.
The primary driver behind our improvement has been and continues to be loan and deposit growth per share. During 2011, loans per share grew 20%, and deposits per share grew 18%.
I want to share 6 goals for 2012. First, grow loans in the mid-single digit to low double digits. Second, increase deposits in the mid-single digits. Third, strive to maintain a net interest margin above 4% for the first half of the year and minimize the decline below 4% for the second half. Fourth, reduce operating expenses to a run rate of $790 million to $810 million. Kirk will provide more detail. But at the highest level, we've accomplished 2 things. We have completed benchmarking process for the entire company and instituted a number of organizational changes; and second, we've established an expense management committee, which will manage costs from a horizontal perspective in addition to the traditional vertical business unit perspective. Fifth, we will work to offset 40% to 60% of the impact of Dodd-Frank. We believe we've offset 20% already. And sixth, maintain a fortress balance sheet with continuing excellent credit quality and strong capital levels.
We know that if we execute on our intermediate-term goals, we will on our own, without M&A or interest rate improvement, reach our 55% efficiency ratio goal in mid-2013; and our 125 basis point return on average asset goal in 2014. We believe that there will be significant regulatory undertakings for all institutions in 2012 and later years as the numerous regulations are enacted under Dodd-Frank.
As we've said in the past, this is a significant tax on the industry, and we'll inevitably contribute to the fatigue factor, particularly among smaller players, specially in light of the additional lost revenue and the higher compliance costs related to Dodd-Frank. We know we can hit our financial goals on our own through organic growth, dividends and share repurchases, but we'll also be working diligently to get there faster via industry consolidation. Global deleveraging and the rising level of fatigue within the U.S. banking industry would provide acquisition opportunities in 2012 and 2013.
With that, I'll pass it to Kirk to discuss the quarter and the expense management initiatives in more detail. Kirk?
Kirk W. Walters
Thank you. On Slide 4, we provide an overview of our fourth quarter results. For the quarter, operating earnings were $58.7 million, or $0.17 per share; with a net income of $43 million, or $0.12 per share. The net interest margin improved to 4.16% compared to 4.11% in the third quarter. The improvement in the reported level is the result of cost recovery income resulting from better-than-expected performance on certain acquired loans in the Bank of Smithtown portfolio.
Read the rest of this transcript for free on seekingalpha.com