text:
Report on the Dan Barker talk
Tonight, the Atheist Longhorns campus group sponsored a talk by Dan Barker, president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and author of Losing Faith in Faith and several children's books.
Turnout was excellent. The talk was held in a UT lecture hall with a capacity of 250. Somewhere between 75 and 100 people attended. The great majority of them seemed to be members of either the Atheist Longhorns or the Atheist Community of Austin, with a few Christians scattered around the room. Most of the jokes were met with appreciative laughs, and most of the stories told for shock value were met with audible outrage.
Dan introduced himself and the Center for Inquiry, then went on to discuss the religious climate in America today. Despite an upswing in fundamentalism since 2001, Dan stated that he was generally optimistic and believed that we were gaining ground over time. He stated that England and other European countries have "grown out of" their preoccupation with religion, and he believes that America will too.
Which is not to say that we shouldn't be concerned with the trends that we do see. Both Democrats and Repubiclans still seem to think they need to pander to the religious right all the time, so you won't see even a Democratic candidate fail to emphasize how important his or her faith in Jesus is. Still, Barker feels that the progress of secularists and progressives shows a clear upward trend over time. He made an analogy to the stock market: in the short term, the market may fluctuate wildly, as we just experienced a large short term rise in religiosity. In the long term, however, the zigs and zags surround an overall forward movement.
For instance, many decades ago, people like Margaret Sanger were jailed for supporting birth control. Today, birth control is so common that it is used by 90% of American Catholics, even when the pope said that it's a sin. He also claimed that the victory in cases such as Kitzmiller v. Dover has been so complete that even creationists know that fighting the case in overt, honest ways is pretty much closed to them now.
Dan then went on to discuss the history of separation of church and state, noting along the way that although those exact words to not appear in the constitution, neither does "separation of powers"; nor does the word "trinity" appear in the Bible. The concepts are the important part.
He discussed George Bush's faith-based initiatives. Essentially, according to Dan, there have been several examples of various organizations receiving government funding that didn't do anything but proselytize, and ultimately didn't even do what they claimed they were supposed to do (i.e., in the case of a group that purported to help former prisoners get jobs, their primary message was "read the Bible, trust Jesus, and then you'll get a job").
FFRF proceeded to sue some of these organizations, and win. In many cases, the state officials actually expressed gratitude over the outcome of these suits, noting that if FFRF hadn't stepped in, they wouldn't have even known that these abuses were occurring. Why is this? asks Dan. Shouldn't states be doing oversight themselves, instead of waiting for some atheists to come along with a lawsuit?
Dan claimed that Congress has never approved any faith based funding, which would be illegal if done through official channels. Instead, Bush has a certain amount of money budgeted for general appropriation, which he then used to set up an office of faith-based intiatives at the White House. What this office does is invite religious organizations to come and hear talks which encourage them to fill out some forms and get cash for their church programs.
FFRF tried to sue the executive branch for violation of the first amendment, but the first judge they spoke to denied the case, on the ground that FFRF had no standing. They then appealed the case to the 7th circuit court and won. But the government appealed the loss, petitioning the Supreme Court to overturn the second ruling.
This was about the time that Alito and Roberts were placed on the supreme court, which meant that the overall composition of the court was very different from its state when the lawsuit began. By a 5-4 ruling, they agreed that no one could sue the government unless they had standing as a citizen who has been harmed, and not merely a tax payer. Although this case was similar to the various suits that FFRF had been winning around the country, suddenly the landscape changed. Now they couldn't get these cases heard on their own merits anymore; everyone was throwing up roadblocks by bringing up the issue of whether they had standing. This brought us up to the present day.
At around 7:45 Dan started fielding questions. Don Baker asked how they raised enough money for all these court challenges, and Dan said that they have a legal fund that people donate to. Also, some lawyers are more than willing to work for free if it means they might get to argue a high profile case before the Supreme Court.
I asked Dan how he and Annie managed to land a gig with Air America Radio, and the answer was: lots of money. Originally they started advertising on AAR, and later they paid more up front to get a national show.
Several people in the back row asked very similar questions about the lawsuits that FFRF had brought. I suspect that they were all part of a Christian group, and the questions may have been planned, but they weren't all that effective IMO. One asked: If these faith-based organizations receiving money had represented several different religions instead of just one, and if their work had proven effective, would FFRF still oppose them? The other two more or less repeated portions of the same question. In all responses, Dan said that 1. It was in fact mostly Christians that were courted by the office; 2. It wouldn't matter if other religions were involved; 3. It wouldn't matter if they did good things with the money, since the issue is government money going to religious programs. Dan made this analogy: If a white supremacist group set up a soup kitchen, and it was clear that they were using it for propaganda purposes, it should be opposed even if it is a really good soup kitchen.
Another guy asked Dan to expand on his comments about Europe "growing out of religion" while America didn't, and expressed some pessimism about whether we have a lot more pain to go through before religious influence starts to recede. Dan reiterated his overall optimism, but did acknowledge that things could get much worse, especially if another catastrophic even such as 9/11 occurs. He also noted that in Europe, there is official state-sponsored religion, and so churches don't have to "hustle" for money, since they are already receiving it from government. Over here, religion is a competitive enterprise, so churches work hard to get more private money as much as possible. That's his explanation for why there's so much more religious influence here even though it's not supported by government.
Matt asked whether Dan opposes tax exemption for churches. Dan said: Yes, I think it shouldn't exist, but it's so entrenched that it's not a battle worth fighting for the time being. He did go on a semi-rant about how churches still use fire stations and police stations and roads, etc., but do not pay for them, which means that the rest of us must pay their share.
After the talk, the Texas Longhorns got a group picture taken with Dan. I introduced myself and had him sign one of his children's books ("Maybe Right, Maybe Wrong") for me and Ben.
I hung around to see some of the Christian students that were starting up various conversations. One group was very friendly, said they had seen our show, and that they agreed with Dan on most points about separation of church and state. That was a very positive conversation.
I also came across Matt arguing with a fairly aggressive Christian about the philosophical issues of "ultimate morality" and his notion that atheism requires purposelessness. This discussion got somewhat heated and ranged among topics like the Euthyphro dilemma, societal construction of laws (the apologist insisted that laws don't "exist", and threw out the usual claim that he'd be killing people if he didn't believe in God), and some of the nastiness in the Bible. It was hard for me to get a word in edgewise, as the apologist was very strident and had a tendency to talk louder when interrupted; and of course Matt was doing most of the talking on our end. I threw in a few points, but basically I considered the conversation pretty much ended when Matt got the apologist to state that stoning children to death USED TO BE morally correct.
However, that apparently wasn't the end of it; Matt continued the conversation for a while longer and I think is getting roped into an email discussion. I'll look forward to that.
Anyway, I enjoyed the evening. Dan Barker's a good speaker, and a good image of the "friendly neighborhood atheist," as he likes to say.
Labels: Dan Barker, Freedom From Religion Foundation, local events
ouini 11/17/2007 4:52 PM
Dan will be here in Iowa City this Tuesday. He sounds like a really good guest, so I really hope he speaks, as he did in your area. But I don't know whether he's going to perform or lecture.
Ilya 11/18/2007 9:40 AM
Sounds like a good time. Wish I was there
DARNheretic 11/19/2007 8:49 AM
Are you guys considering recording some of the speaking engagements you sponsor (or in this case attend)?
I realize some talks don't lend themselves to recording well (i.e. Matt's slideshow/lecture on hell), but I think the talks are really interesting all the same.
I'm horribly late posting my thanks for this summary. I was unable to attend, and I really, REALLY appreciate this synopsis. A very belated thanks, Martin.
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text:
Terry , et al. May 15, 2012
Method and apparatus for controlling transmissions via an enhanced dedicated channel
A method and apparatus for controlling transmissions of data via an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH) are disclosed. A list of available transport format combinations (TFCs) is generated based on a plurality of dedicated channel medium access control (MAC-d) flows. An enhanced uplink medium access control (MAC-e) protocol data unit (PDU) is generated using a TFC which is selected from the list of available TFCs. The MAC-e PDU is forwarded to a hybrid-automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) process unit for transmission. The list of available TFCs is continuously updated by eliminating and recovering TFCs based on remaining E-DCH power, an E-DCH transport format combination set (TFCS), a power offset of a highest priority MAC-d flow that has E-DCH data to transmit, and a gain factor for each TFC.
Inventors: Terry; Stephen E. (Northport, NY), Zhang; Guodong (Farmingdale, NY), Pan; Jung-Lin (Selden, NY), Wang; Peter Shaomin (E. Setauket, NY), DiFazio; Robert A. (Greenlawn, NY)
Assignee: InterDigital Technology Corporation (Wilmington, DE)
Appl. No.: 11/405,911
Application Number Filing Date Patent Number Issue Date
60673076 Apr., 2005
Current U.S. Class: 370/328 ; 370/252; 370/310.2; 370/318; 370/349; 455/127.1; 455/127.2; 455/136; 455/138; 455/232.1; 455/355; 455/422.1; 455/522
Current International Class: H04W 4/00 (20090101)
Field of Search: 370/232,252,318-321,342-345,347,412,441-442,395.4,310.2,328-339,349 455/127.1,127.2,136,138,232.1,239.1,245.1,250.1,355,422.1,522
References Cited
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7382747 June 2008 Hu et al.
7397790 July 2008 Zeira et al.
7408895 August 2008 Zhang et al.
7509554 March 2009 Lohr et al.
2003/0112786 June 2003 Terry et al.
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2007/0121542 May 2007 Lohr et al.
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3GPP, 3GPP TR 25.896 v6.0.0, Mar. 2004, 3GPP. cited by examiner .
Third Generation Partnership Project, "Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Feasibility Study for Enhanced Uplink for Utra Fdd (Release 6)," 3GPP Tr 25.896 V6.0.0 (Mar. 2004). 1 Corresponds to Tw 200402976; 2 Corresponds to Tw 200404435; 3 Corresponds to Kr 20000008081 and Kr 334,818; 4 Corresponds to Kr 20080016946. cited by other .
Third Generation Partnership Project, "Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Feasibility Study for Enhanced Uplink for UTRA FDD (Release 6)," 3GPP TR 25.896 V6.0.0 (Mar. 2004). cited by other .
Third Generation Partnership Project, "Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Feasibility Study for Enhanced Uplink for UTRA FDD; (Release 6)," 3GPP TR 25.896 V1.0.0 (Sep. 2003). cited by other.
Primary Examiner: Moe; Aung S
Assistant Examiner: Chung; Hoon J
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Volpe and Koenig, P.C.
Parent Case Text
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/673,076 filed Apr. 20, 2005, which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth.
1. A method of controlling transmissions of data via an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH), the method comprising: generating by a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), a list of available transport format combinations (TFCs) based on a plurality of dedicated channel medium access control (MAC-d) flows, wherein the list of available TFCs is continuously updated by eliminating and recovering TFCs based on remaining E-DCH power, an E-DCH transport format combination set (TFCS), a power offset of a highest priority MAC-d flow that has E-DCH data to transmit, and a gain factor for each TFC; storing the list of available TFCs; selecting a TFC from the list of available TFCs based on the power offset; generating an enhanced uplink medium access control (MAC-e) protocol data unit (PDU) using the selected TFC; and forwarding the MAC-e PDU to a hybrid-automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) process for transmission.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of available TFCs is updated by: determining a highest priority logical channel having data for E-DCH transmission; determining a MAC-d flow to which the highest priority logical channel is mapped; determining a list of TFCs associated to the MAC-d flow to which the highest priority logical channel is mapped; indexing the list of TFCs with the remaining E-DCH power; and updating the list of TFCs by eliminating TFCs which exceed the remaining E-DCH power and by recovering TFCs supported by the remaining E-DCH power.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein a minimum set of TFCs is defined such that the TFCs within the minimum set are never blocked due to transmit power restriction.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein multiple MAC-d flows are multiplexed into a single MAC-e PDU.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the MAC-e PDU is generated by considering at least one of a scheduled grant, rate grants of non-scheduled MAC-d flows, maximum TFC allowed by remaining E-DCH power, allowed MAC-d flow combinations, relative priority of each logical channel and a header of a rate request bit.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein a smallest TFC is selected out of the list of available TFCs, which is larger than a size of the MAC-e PDU, and padding is applied to the MAC-e PDU to fit the selected TFC.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising: establishing the E-DCH; initiating parameters related to the TFC selection; and obtaining and storing the remaining E-DCH power.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising: calculating a maximum supported payload based on a power offset and a remaining E-DCH power; setting an available payload to the maximum supported payload; and calculating a maximum scheduled payload that can be transmitted at a selected power offset for transmission.
9. The method of claim 8 further comprising: setting an available non-scheduled payload to a value of a non-scheduled grant for each MAC-d flow with a non-scheduled grant; and on a condition that there is at least one logical channel having data with an allowed MAC-d flow combination, and there is the available payload, determining whether the logical channel belongs to a MAC-d flow with non-scheduled grants or scheduled grants.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein on a condition that the logical channel belongs to a MAC-d flow with non-scheduled grants, the MAC-e PDU is filled up to a minimum of the available payload, the available non-scheduled payload and available data of the logical channel.
11. The method of claim 10 further comprising: decreasing the available payload and the available non-scheduled payload by filled data bits and related header bits.
12. The method of claim 9 wherein on a condition that the logical channel belongs to a MAC-d flow with scheduled grants, the MAC-e PDU is filled up to a minimum of the available payload, the available scheduled payload and available data of the logical channel.
13. The method of claim 12 further comprising: decreasing the available payload and the available scheduled payload by filled data bits and related header bits.
14. The method of claim 1 further comprising: selecting an appropriate E-DCH TFC; determining the MAC-e PDU size; selecting the smallest TFC out of a list of supported TFCs for a particular power offset, which is larger than the MAC-e PDU size after multiplexing; and adding padding to the MAC-e PDU to fit the selected appropriate E-DCH TFC.
15. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for controlling transmissions of data via an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH), the WTRU comprising: an enhanced uplink transport format combination (E-TFC) selection and multiplexing unit comprising: a transport format combination (TFC) recovery and elimination unit for generating a list of available TFCs based on a plurality of dedicated channel medium access control (MAC-d) flows, wherein the list of available TFCs is continuously updated by eliminating and recovering TFCs based on remaining E-DCH power, an E-DCH transport format combination set (TFCS), a power offset of a highest priority MAC-d flow that has E-DCH data to transmit, and a gain factor for each TFC; a multiplexer for generating an enhanced uplink medium access control (MAC-e) protocol data unit (PDU); and a TFC selection and padding unit for selecting a TFC, based on the power offset, for the MAC-e PDU and applying padding to the MAC-e PDU to fit the selected TFC; a hybrid-automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) process unit for transmitting the MAC-e PDU; and a lower layer management unit in communication with the TFC recovery and elimination unit and the multiplexer, wherein the lower layer management unit sends a signal to the TFC recovery and elimination unit indicating power offsets of each of the MAC-d flows.
16. The WTRU of claim 15 further comprising: a rate request unit for generating rate request bits used by the multiplexer to generate the MAC-e PDU.
17. The WTRU of claim 15 wherein a minimum set of TFCs is defined such that the TFCs within the minimum set are never blocked due to transmit power restriction.
18. The WTRU of claim 15 wherein the multiplexer multiplexes multiple MAC-d flows into a single MAC-e PDU.
19. The WTRU of claim 15 wherein the MAC-e PDU is generated by the multiplexer considering at least one of a scheduled grant, rate grants of non-scheduled MAC-d flows, maximum TFC allowed by remaining E-DCH power, allowed MAC-d flow combinations, relative priority of each logical channel and a header of a rate request bit.
20. The WTRU of claim 19 wherein a smallest TFC is selected out of the list of available TFCs, which is larger than a size of the MAC-e PDU, and padding is applied by the TFC selection and padding unit to the MAC-e PDU to fit the selected smallest TFC.
21. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for controlling transmissions of data via an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH), the WTRU comprising: an enhanced uplink transport format combination (E-TFC) selection and multiplexing unit comprising: a transport format combination (TFC) recovery and elimination unit for generating a list of available TFCs based on a plurality of dedicated channel medium access control (MAC-d) flows, wherein the list of available TFCs is continuously updated by eliminating and recovering TFCs based on remaining E-DCH power, an E-DCH transport format combination set (TFCS), a power offset of a highest priority MAC-d flow that has E-DCH data to transmit, and a gain factor for each TFC; a multiplexer for generating an enhanced uplink medium access control (MAC-e) protocol data unit (PDU); and a TFC selection and padding unit for selecting a TFC, based on the power offset, for the MAC-e PDU and applying padding to the MAC-e PDU to fit the selected TFC; a hybrid-automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) process unit for transmitting the MAC-e PDU; and a lower layer management unit in communication with the TFC recovery and elimination unit and the multiplexer, wherein the lower layer management unit sends a signal to the TFC recovery and elimination unit indicating an E-DCH transport format combination set (TFCS).
22. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for controlling transmissions of data via an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH), the WTRU comprising: an enhanced uplink transport format combination (E-TFC) selection and multiplexing unit comprising: a transport format combination (TFC) recovery and elimination unit for generating a list of available TFCs based on a plurality of dedicated channel medium access control (MAC-d) flows, wherein the list of available TFCs is continuously updated by eliminating and recovering TFCs based on remaining E-DCH power, an E-DCH transport format combination set (TFCS), a power offset of a highest priority MAC-d flow that has E-DCH data to transmit, and a gain factor for each TFC; a multiplexer for generating an enhanced uplink medium access control (MAC-e) protocol data unit (PDU); and a TFC selection and padding unit for selecting a TFC, based on the power offset, for the MAC-e PDU and applying padding to the MAC-e PDU to fit the selected TFC; a hybrid-automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) process unit for transmitting the MAC-e PDU; and a lower layer management unit in communication with the TFC recovery and elimination unit and the multiplexer, wherein the lower layer management unit sends a signals to the multiplexer indicating rate grants of non-scheduled MAC-d flows.
23. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for controlling transmissions of data via an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH), the WTRU comprising: an enhanced uplink transport format combination (E-TFC) selection and multiplexing unit comprising: a transport format combination (TFC) recovery and elimination unit for generating a list of available TFCs based on a plurality of dedicated channel medium access control (MAC-d) flows, wherein the list of available TFCs is continuously updated by eliminating and recovering TFCs based on remaining E-DCH power, an E-DCH transport format combination set (TFCS), a power offset of a highest priority MAC-d flow that has E-DCH data to transmit, and a gain factor for each TFC; a multiplexer for generating an enhanced uplink medium access control (MAC-e) protocol data unit (PDU); and a TFC selection and padding unit for selecting a TFC, based on the power offset, for the MAC-e PDU and applying padding to the MAC-e PDU to fit the selected TFC; a hybrid-automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) process unit for transmitting the MAC-e PDU; and a lower layer management unit in communication with the TFC recovery and elimination unit and the multiplexer, wherein the lower layer management unit sends a signal to the multiplexer indicating allowed MAC-d flow combinations.
24. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for controlling transmissions of data via an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH), the WTRU comprising: an enhanced uplink transport format combination (E-TFC) selection and multiplexing unit comprising: a transport format combination (TFC) recovery and elimination unit for generating a list of available TFCs based on a plurality of dedicated channel medium access control (MAC-d) flows, wherein the list of available TFCs is continuously updated by eliminating and recovering TFCs based on remaining E-DCH power, an E-DCH transport format combination set (TFCS), a power offset of a highest priority MAC-d flow that has E-DCH data to transmit, and a gain factor for each TFC; a multiplexer for generating an enhanced uplink medium access control (MAC-e) protocol data unit (PDU); and a TFC selection and padding unit for selecting a TFC, based on the power offset, for the MAC-e PDU and applying padding to the MAC-e PDU to fit the selected TFC; a hybrid-automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) process unit for transmitting the MAC-e PDU; and a lower layer management unit in communication with the TFC recovery and elimination unit and the multiplexer, wherein the lower layer management unit generates a first signal indicating maximum allowed power, wherein the first signal is used to generate a second signal input to the TFC recovery and elimination unit indicating a remaining E-DCH power which is used to continuously update the list of TFCs by eliminating and recovering TFCs.
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to wireless communication systems. More particularly, the present invention is related to a method and apparatus for controlling transmissions via an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH).
Methods for improving uplink (UL) coverage, throughput, and transmission latency are currently being investigated in the third generation partnership project (3GPP). In order to achieve these goals, enhanced uplink (EU) transmissions have been proposed in 3GPP, in which control, (i.e., scheduling and assigning), of UL resources, (i.e., physical channels), is moved from a radio network controller (RNC) to a Node-B.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), (e.g., mobile station), side medium access control (MAC) architecture 100. The WTRU MAC architecture 100 includes an enhanced uplink medium access control (MAC-es/MAC-e) entity 105, which comprises different independent sub-layer entities within the MAC. The MAC-es/-e functionality split is a result of how the MAC functionality is partitioned within the universal terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN). The WTRU MAC architecture 100 further includes a high speed MAC entity 110, a common/shared MAC (MAC-c/sh) 115, a dedicated channel medium access control (MAC-d) 120 and a MAC service access point (SAP) 125. The MAC-c/sh 115 controls access to all common transport channels, except the HS-DSCH transport channel 145. The MAC-d 120 controls access to all dedicated transport channels, to the MAC-c/sh 115 and the MAC-hs 110. The MAC-hs 110 controls access to the HS-DSCH transport channel 145.
The MAC-es/MAC-e entity 105 controls access to an E-DCH 130, whereby the MAC-d 120 may access the E-DCH 130 via a connection 135, and the MAC control SAP 125 may access the E-DCH 130 via a connection 140.
FIG. 2 shows MAC interworking in the conventional WTRU of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, a radio link control (RLC) protocol data unit (PDU) enters the MAC-d on a logical channel. In the MAC-e header, a data description indicator (DDI) field, (6 bits), identifies the logical channel, MAC-d flow and MAC-d PDU size. A mapping table is signaled over radio resource control (RRC) signaling to allow the WTRU to set the DDI values. The N field, (fixed size of 6 bits), indicates the number of consecutive MAC-d PDUs corresponding to the same DDI value. A special value of the DDI field indicates that no more data is contained in the remaining part of the MAC-e PDU. The transmission sequence number (TSN) field (6 bits) provides the transmission sequence number on the E-DCH 130 shown in FIG. 1. The MAC-e PDU is forwarded to a hybrid-automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) entity, which then forwards the MAC-e PDU to layer 1 for transmission in one transmission time interval (TTI).
An efficient MAC architecture for controlling the transmission of E-DCH data is desired.
The present invention is related to a method and apparatus for controlling transmissions via an E-DCH. A list of available transport format combinations (TFCs) is generated based on a plurality of MAC-d flows. A MAC-e PDU is generated using a TFC which is selected from the list of available TFCs. The MAC-e PDU is forwarded to an H-ARQ process unit for transmission. The list of available TFCs is continuously updated by eliminating and recovering TFCs based on remaining E-DCH power, an E-DCH transport format combination set (TFCS), a power offset of a highest priority MAC-d flow that has E-DCH data to transmit, and a gain factor for each TFC.
A more detailed understanding of the invention may be had from the following description of a preferred example, given by way of example and to be understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a conventional WTRU side MAC architecture;
FIG. 2 shows prior art MAC inter-working in the conventional WTRU of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a WTRU MAC-e architecture configured in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a process for TFC recovery and elimination in accordance with the present invention; and
FIGS. 5A and 5B, taken together, depict a flow diagram of a process for multiplexing MAC-d flows into a MAC-e PDU in accordance with the present invention.
Hereafter, the terminology "WTRU" includes but is not limited to a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a pager, or any other type of device capable of operating in a wireless environment. When referred to hereafter, the terminology "Node-B" includes but is not limited to a base station, a site controller, an access point or any other type of interfacing device in a wireless environment.
Hereinafter, the terminology "MAC-e" will be used to reference both MAC-e and MAC-es collectively.
The features of the present invention may be incorporated into an integrated circuit (IC) or be configured in a circuit comprising a multitude of interconnecting components.
FIG. 3 shows a WTRU MAC-e architecture 300 configured in accordance with the present invention. The WTRU MAC-e architecture 300 comprises an E-TFC selection and multiplexing unit 305, an H-ARQ process unit 310 and a lower layer management unit 315.
The E-TFC selection and multiplexing unit 305 receives a scheduled grant signal 320, which indicates the amount of transmit power that can be used by scheduled MAC-d flows 325. The amount of transmit power indicated by the scheduled grant signal 320 can be identified either as a ratio to the DPCCH power or the maximum transmit power 330 provided by the lower layer management unit 315 that can be used for scheduled MAC-d flows 325.
The WTRU sends scheduled MAC-d flows 325 in accordance with a scheduling grant and may also send non-scheduled MAC-d flows 335 at any time up to a configured bit rate.
The E-TFC selection and multiplexing unit 305 comprises a TFC recovery and elimination unit 355, a multiplexer 360 and a TFC selection and padding unit 365. The E-TFC selection and multiplexing unit 305 receives scheduled and non-scheduled MAC-d flows 325, 335 and generates a MAC-e PDU 348 after selecting a TFC for the MAC-e PDU 348. The TFC recovery and elimination unit 355 receives remaining E-DCH power signal 340, based in part on the maximum allowed power 330. The multiplexer 360 receives rate request bits 345 from a rate request unit 370 which is generated based in part on a signal 350 output by the H-ARQ process unit 310 which indicates an H-ARQ failure from a serving cell.
The TFC recovery and elimination unit 355 computes the allowed E-DCH TFCS subset. The TFCS subset is continuously updated by eliminating and recovering TFCs based on the remaining E-DCH power 340, an E-DCH TFCS 342, the power offset of the highest priority MAC-d flow that has E-DCH data to transmit, (based on MAC-d flow power offsets 344), a gain factor for each E-TFC, (inferred from the MAC-d flow power offsets 344), and an E-DCH minimum set rate (included in the E-DCH TFCS 342).
Referring to FIG. 4, a process 400 for TFC recovery and elimination in accordance with the present invention is explained hereinafter. Upon E-DCH establishment, parameters related to TFC selection are initialized (step 402). For each configured MAC-d flow with a unique power offset, a required transmit power of each E-TFC is calculated based on current DPCCH transmit power, the number of bits in each E-TFC and a gain factor of the E-TFC. A list of TFCs sorted by the power requirements is then stored. Each entry in the list identifies the power requirement for the TFC with the power offset for the associated MAC-d flow. Alternatively, one complete list for all MAC-d flows with indices may be stored. RRC signaled parameters, such as the E-DCH transport channel (TrCH) minimum set data rate and other parameters are also set.
For each TTI, the E-TFC recovery and elimination procedure may be initiated. When the E-TFC recovery and elimination procedure is initiated, the TFC recovery and elimination unit 355 receives and stores the remaining E-DCH power 340 (step 404). Based on buffer occupancy and priority of each logical channel and MAC-d flow mapped to the E-DCH, the MAC-d flow with the highest priority data is determined among all MAC-d flows mapped to the E-DCH that contains logical channel(s) with non-zero buffer occupancy (step 406). The power offset of this MAC-d flow is used in subsequent steps.
For the power offset of the highest priority MAC-d flow, the associated list of TFCs sorted by the power requirements is determined (step 408). The list of the TFCs is then indexed with the remaining E-DCH power requirement (step 410). E-TFCs are eliminated if the transmit power required by the E-TFC exceeds the remaining power for the E-DCH (P.sub.E-TFC>P.sub.remain) and recovered if the transmit power required by the E-TFC is supported by the remaining power for the E-DCH (step 412). Preferably a minimum set of E-TFCs is defined such that the E-DCH TFCs within the minimum set are never blocked due to transmit power restriction. The E-TFC recovery and elimination unit 355 outputs a TFCS subset 358 to the multiplexer 360 (step 414).
The multiplexer 360 concatenates multiple MAC-d PDUs into MAC-es PDUs, and to multiplex one or multiple MAC-es PDUs into a single MAC-e PDU 348. The multiplexer 360 also manages and sets the transmission sequence number (TSN) per logical channel for each MAC-es PDU. The multiplexer 360 takes into account the transmit power indicated by the scheduled grant signal 320 for the E-DCH, (i.e., a ratio to DPCCH power), rate grants 352 for non-scheduled MAC-d flows, maximum TFC allowed by the E-DCH remaining power, allowed MAC-d flow combinations 354, relative priority of each logical channel and a header of rate request bits 345, (if the rate request is transmitted in this TTI).
FIGS. 5A and 5B, taken together, depict a flow diagram of a process 500 for multiplexing MAC-d flows into a MAC-e PDU 348 in accordance with the present invention. The multiplexer 360 calculates the maximum supported payload, (i.e., maximum MAC-e PDU size included in the list of supported E-TFCs (TFCS subset)), that can be sent by the WTRU during the upcoming TTI based on the power offset and the remaining power (step 502). Rate request bits are reserved if there is a rate request in the upcoming TTI. The available payload is set to the maximum supported payload (step 504). Based on the transmit power indicated by the scheduled grant signal 320, the multiplexer 360 calculates the maximum scheduled payload that can be transmitted at the selected power offset for this transmission (step 506). The available scheduled payload is set to the maximum scheduled payload (step 508). For each MAC-d flow with a non-scheduled grant, the available non-scheduled payload is set to the value of the non-scheduled grant (step 510).
The following steps are performed for each logical channel in the order of priorities. The highest priority is selected (step 512). It is determined whether there is at least one logical channel having data with the allowed MAC-d flow combination in the selected priority (step 514). If not, the process proceeds to step 536 to determine whether the selected priority is the lowest priority. If it is not the lowest priority, the next priority is selected (step 538) and the process 500 returns back to step 514. If the priority is the lowest, the process ends.
If it is determined at step 514 that there is a logical channel having data, any logical channel is selected randomly if more than one (step 516) and it is further determined whether there is an available payload (step 518). If there is no available payload, the process 500 ends. If there is available payload, it is further determined whether the logical channel belongs to a MAC-d flow with non-scheduled grants or scheduled grants (step 520).
If the logical channel belongs to the MAC-d flow with non-scheduled grants, it is further determined whether there is an available non-scheduled payload for this MAC-d flow (step 522). If so, the MAC-e PDU 348 is filled up to the minimum of the available payload, the available non-scheduled payload and available data of the logical channel (step 524). The available payload and the available non-scheduled payload are decreased by the filled data bits and related header bits accordingly (step 526) and the process 500 proceeds to step 534.
If the logical channel belongs to the MAC-d flow with scheduled grants, it is determined whether there is an available scheduled payload (step 528). If so, the MAC-e PDU 348 is filled up to the minimum of the available payload, the available scheduled payload and available data of the logical channel (step 530). The available payload and the available scheduled payload are decreased by the filled data bits and related header bits accordingly (step 532) and the process 500 proceeds to step 534.
At step 534, it is determined whether there is another logical channel of this priority having data with allowed MAC-d flow combinations. If there is no other logical channel, the process 500 proceeds to step 536 to select a next priority. If there is another logical channel with the same priority, the process 500 returns to step 516.
The TFC selection and padding unit 365 selects an appropriate E-TFC and applies padding for the MAC-e PDU 348 to fit the selected E-TFC. The TFC selection and padding unit 365 determines the MAC-e PDU size and selects the smallest TFC out of the list of supported TFCs for this power offset, which is larger than the MAC-e PDU size after multiplexing. The TFC selection and padding unit 365 then adds padding to the MAC-e PDU 348 to fit the selected TFC. The E-TFC selection and multiplexing unit 305 outputs a MAC-e PDU 376, a TFC 378, power offset 380, the maximum number of retransmissions 382, a rate request indication 384 and a happy bit 386 to the H-ARQ process unit 310.
The H-ARQ process unit 310 is responsible for managing each H-ARQ process. The H-ARQ process unit 310 provides synchronous operation for transmissions and retransmission, H-ARQ feedback processing on H-ARQ information channel (HICH), (i.e., ACK/NACK), and tracking the maximum number of retransmissions per H-ARQ process. The H-ARQ process unit 310 may output a signal 350 when an H-ARQ failure from a serving cell occurs. When an H-ARQ process is available, an H-ARQ process availability indication 388 is sent to the E-TFC selection and multiplexing unit 305.
Although the features and elements of the present invention are described in the preferred embodiments in particular combinations, each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements of the preferred embodiments or in various combinations with or without other features and elements of the present invention.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Germany Institutional Investors/Consultants Change site
Is the Value Rally in Emerging Markets Sustainable?
17 August 2021 / EMERGING MARKETS
Value investing is coming in from the cold.
Ernest C. Yeung, Portfolio Manager, Emerging Markets Discovery Equity Strategy
Our EM "Discovery" thesis seeks to invest in forgotten stocks about to experience fundamental change. The transition to green energy provides one such opportunity.
The way EM governments employ fiscal stimulus has changed to targeting the consumer directly. This is another fundamental change that we intend to capture.
With a capex‑depreciation ratio around 1.0, nonfinancial EM companies have been underinvesting. This is poised to change, bringing new investment opportunities.
After a decade of strong value outperformance in emerging market equities from 2001 to 2010 came a decade of sustained underperformance. In 2020, the value/growth divergence in EM reached an extreme not seen before, driven by the deep recession created by the global coronavirus pandemic (Figure 1). Before examining the disappointing performance of EM value since 2010, we should first ask ourselves "What drove value's outperformance between 2000 and 2010?" We believe there were two key factors at work. First, there was the Chinese economic supercycle as China spent a staggering USD 12 trillion on infrastructure and industrial capacity over this period. This benefited "old economy" sectors globally, such as steel, cement, nonferrous metals, industrial machinery, and energy. Second, the world was starting to recover following a number of EM shocks (1994 Latin American tequila crisis, 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis, 1998 Russian crisis) during which a large amount of capex and many banks had been destroyed.
EM Style Divergence Has Been Retreating From Extreme Levels
(Fig. 1) Annual value‑growth divergence for MSCI EM indices (%).
As at June 30, 2021.
Source: Financial data and analytics provider FactSet. Copyright 2021 FactSet. All Rights Reserved. See Additional Disclosures.
Is This Episode Relevant to Investors Today?
We believe that it is, since although history does not repeat itself, it very often rhymes! We are of the view that the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 (2060 for China) will boost many traditional or old economy industries during the long transition period. To meet green energy and carbon emission targets, the world will need to spend heavily on traditional industrial sectors during the transition years.
China is projected to need to spend around USD 10–15 trillion to transition to a more energy‑efficient economy with zero net carbon emissions by 2060.…
The massive USD 12 trillion of infrastructure spending in China between 2000 and 2010 was one factor contributing to a decade of outperformance for global value investors. Today, China is projected to need to spend around USD 10–15 trillion to transition to a more energy‑efficient economy with zero net carbon emissions by 2060 that do not rely on fossil fuels (Figure 2). This is a sum not very different in magnitude to what China spent on infrastructure and industrialization over 2000–2010. The G10 group of industrialized economies may also need to spend a roughly similar amount on their own green energy transition programs to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050.
China Supercycle vs. Post‑COVID‑19 Energy Transition
(Fig. 2) To meet green targets, the world needs to spend.
As of December 31, 2020.
Sources: Haver Analytics/China National Bureau of Statistics, UBS Investment Bank and Goldman Sachs & Company.
Actual future outcomes may differ materially.
Energy Transition Is Commodity Intensive
During the transition to clean energy, the world will likely need to spend heavily on commodities like copper, nickel, lithium, aluminum, and natural gas as alternative energy and electric vehicles are metals‑intensive. While a more controversial issue in developed markets, there are also few alternatives to natural gas, the cleanest of the fossil fuels, for EM during the early stages of their fossil fuel transition. In an EM context, this makes sense from an ESG perspective, since gas is less polluting than other carbon‑based fuels and hospitals, schools, fire stations, etc., all need power. Renewable energy is not readily available in most EMs, and we believe natural gas will play an important role in the early stages of their transition to cleaner energy.
The post‑COVID‑19 energy transition is the type of external fundamental change that we seek to leverage...
Investment Must Rise to Reach Net Carbon Targets
The post‑COVID‑19 energy transition is the type of external fundamental change that we seek to leverage under our EM "Discovery" investment thesis. It is a theme that Portfolio Managers Ernest Yeung and Haider Ali have spent a good deal of time analyzing. The world has badly underinvested in this area, and countries will likely need to ramp up capital expenditure quickly if net carbon reduction targets in 2050 are to be met.
Current Corporate Capex Is Maintenance Only
(Fig. 3) Emission targets require a major boost in net investment.
Sources: Bloomberg Finance L.P. Financial data and analytics provider FactSet. Copyright 2021 FactSet.
All Rights Reserved. See Additional Disclosures.
Figure 3 shows that the MSCI AC World CAPEX to depreciation ratio (ex‑financials) is currently hovering around 1.0, pointing to the fact that companies in recent years have mostly been spending on maintenance capex, investing "for balance sheet rather than for growth." This time there was no financial crisis—rather, the underinvestment was caused by:
China overspending on industrial capex after the global financial crisis—we have spent 10 years digesting that excess capacity.
The massive performance divergence between growth and value sectors in stock market terms meant that capital exited the old economy sectors and flowed into the new economy.
We believe this will all have to change as the switch to green energy begins to gather pace and capital is required to flow back to the old economy. The share of investment spending in gross domestic product (GDP) will need to rise, becoming a new driver for economic growth during the green energy transition.
Following a successful vaccine rollout and strong global economic recovery, value investing has staged an impressive rebound in 2021. While this has been welcomed, investors in EM value funds are naturally asking whether the outperformance of value can be sustained. We believe that it can. For one thing, we believe that the way governments supported their economies with fiscal and monetary stimulus during the coronavirus pandemic marks a fundamental change from previous recessions.
Following a successful vaccine rollout and strong global economic recovery, value investing has staged an impressive rebound in 2021.
Post‑COVID‑19 Stimulus Targets Consumers and Green Infrastructure
Stimulus is now being targeted primarily at helping the consumer and boosting green infrastructure rather than being deployed toward supporting corporate and bank balance sheets, as was the case following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 that triggered the global financial crisis (GFC) and Great Recession. Empirical studies show that fiscal stimulus measures in the U.S. and other developed economies to support the consumer are working as intended and are having a significant multiplier effect on economies. This in turn is leading to a significantly faster economic recovery from the pandemic than was seen in 2009 after the GFC. A faster global economic recovery, in turn, can be expected to provide underlying support for the value style of investing (see Figure 4).
U.S. Real GDP Forecast to Grow Strongly Over 2021–2023
(Fig. 4) Above‑trend GDP growth should be value‑supportive.
Sources: Bloomberg Finance L.P. CBO Economic Forecast for the U.S. Economy, June 9, 2021 (2023 estimate=2.5%). See Additional Disclosures.
There is no guarantee that any forecasts made will come to pass.
E=Estimate
For example, by March 2021, U.S. consumer goods spending (almost one‑third of the global total) had risen to a level 9% above its pre‑COVID‑19 trend, a big enough shock to drive a global recovery in demand. In that month, U.S. households saw their biggest ever increase in average monthly incomes (21%) as they received their USD 1,400 bank checks under President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan. In the past year, U.S. households have accumulated an estimated USD 2 trillion of excess savings, some of which is very likely to be spent during the next year or two.
Besides fiscal stimulus, post‑COVID‑19 recoveries are also supported by the extremely accommodative monetary policies implemented by major central banks. For the first time since quantitative easing (QE) began, we are seeing strong real growth rates in M2—or broad money supply—in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. In our view, the emerging markets are well positioned to benefit as global growth picks up in response to such strong policy stimulus. China, in particular, has been a big beneficiary of the stimulus‑related increase in U.S. consumer goods spending, reflected in merchandise exports from China that are currently around 20% above their pre‑COVID‑19 levels.
Stars Appear Aligned for Value Investors
Looking at the way in which the global economic environment is currently changing, there are a number of conditions today that would appear to favor a further rotation toward value. Historically, periods of larger fiscal deficits and strong real GDP growth have often been associated with periods of value outperformance. Earnings per share (EPS) growth is another key factor for value versus growth, with the growth style of investing naturally doing better in periods when earnings were scarce. Currently, the consensus bottom‑up forecasts for emerging markets EPS growth in 2021 and 2022 are 50.1% and 10.2% (MSCI EM Free Index, as at July 5, 2021), respectively, indicating that we have entered an "earnings rich" environment that ought to favor value over growth.
...some believe the acceleration of new technologies triggered by the pandemic could usher in a period of higher productivity.
Interest rates are another factor to consider. Historically, real rates have shown an inverse relationship with value versus growth. As monetary policy in the U.S. and other countries begins to normalize next year, many analysts expect real interest rates to rise, which should also favor value. Lastly, some believe the acceleration of new technologies triggered by the pandemic could usher in a period of higher productivity. Such periods have tended to favor value rather than growth, as higher productivity, in turn, can be expected to result in stronger growth in earnings.
General Portfolio Risks
Capital risk—the value of your investment will vary and is not guaranteed. It will be affected by changes in the exchange rate between the base currency of the portfolio and the currency in which you subscribed, if different.
ESG and Sustainability risk—may result in a material negative impact on the value of an investment and performance of the portfolio.
Equity risk—in general, equities involve higher risks than bonds or money market instruments.
Geographic concentration risk—to the extent that a portfolio invests a large portion of its assets in a particular geographic area, its performance will be more strongly affected by events within that area.
Hedging risk—a portfolio's attempts to reduce or eliminate certain risks through hedging may not work as intended.
Investment portfolio risk—investing in portfolios involves certain risks an investor would not face if investing in markets directly.
Management risk—the investment manager or its designees may at times find their obligations to a portfolio to be in conflict with their obligations to other investment portfolios they manage (although in such cases, all portfolios will be dealt with equitably).
Operational risk—operational failures could lead to disruptions of portfolio operations or financial losses
Bloomberg Index Services Limited. BLOOMBERG® is a trademark and service mark of Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates (collectively "Bloomberg"). BARCLAYS® is a trademark and service mark of Barclays Bank Plc (collectively with its affiliates, "Barclays"), used under license. Bloomberg or Bloomberg's licensors, including Barclays, own all proprietary rights in the Bloomberg Barclays Indices. Neither Bloomberg nor Barclays approves or endorses this material, or guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information herein, or makes any warranty, express or implied, as to the results to be obtained therefrom and, to the maximum extent allowed by law, neither shall have any liability or responsibility for injury or damages arising in connection therewith.
Financial data and analytics provider FactSet. Copyright 2021 FactSet. All Rights Reserved.
MSCI and its affiliates and third party sources and providers (collectively, "MSCI") makes no express or implied warranties or representations and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein. The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used as a basis for other indices or any securities or financial products. This report is not approved, reviewed, or produced by MSCI. Historical MSCI data and analysis should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance analysis, forecast or prediction. None of the MSCI data is intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such.
This material is being furnished for general informational purposes only. The material does not constitute or undertake to give advice of any nature, including fiduciary investment advice, and prospective investors are recommended to seek independent legal, financial and tax advice before making any investment decision. T. Rowe Price group of companies including T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and/or its affiliates receive revenue from T. Rowe Price investment products and services. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The value of an investment and any income from it can go down as well as up. Investors may get back less than the amount invested.
Information and opinions presented have been obtained or derived from sources believed to be reliable and current; however, we cannot guarantee the sources' accuracy or completeness. There is no guarantee that any forecasts made will come to pass. The views contained herein are as of the date noted on the material and are subject to change without notice; these views may differ from those of other T. Rowe Price group companies and/or associates. Under no circumstances should the material, in whole or in part, be copied or redistributed without consent from T. Rowe Price.
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USA—Issued in the USA by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., 100 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD, 21202, which is regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. For Institutional Investors only.
August 2021 / MARKET OUTLOOK
Global Asset Allocation: August Insights
August 2021 / INVESTMENT INSIGHTS
ETFs in EM Local Currency Debt: Do they work?
202108‑1747201
Ernest C. Yeung
Portfolio Manager, Emerging Markets Discovery Equity Strategy
Ernest Yeung is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. and T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited. He is a portfolio manager for the Emerging Markets Discovery Equity Strategy at T. Rowe Price. He was the co-portfolio manager for the International Small-Cap Equity Strategies from 2009 to 2014. Prior to joining T. Rowe Price in 2003, he was an analyst with HSBC Asset Management in London. Ernest earned an M.A., with honours, in economics from Cambridge University. He also has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and the Investment Management Certificate.
See all article(s) by Ernest C. Yeung...
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text:
The usual suspects blast the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast
February 26, 2011 | Surfing
The 2011 ASP World Title season is up and running at primary venue of Snapper Rocks, in Australia. Taj Burrow, Kelly Slater, Matt Wilkinson, Mick Fanning, Jordy Smith and Tiago Pires have kicked of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast with full power performances.
The top world surfers enjoyed rippable two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves and completed the first round of surf rides. Snapper Rocks was delivering barrels and air sections, so the crowd on the beach and watching online were treated to some impressive opening day action.
Burrow's combination of impressive tube-riding and high-performance netted him the highest heat total of the day, a 16.67 out of a possible 20, to best American opponents Bobby Martinez, 28, and Cory Lopez, 33.
"I feel good now that it's over and done with," Burrow said. "I was still a little nervous even though I got the win last week at Burleigh because this is the big event. It's the first one of the year with the points and ratings and everything up for grabs and it's the one you want to do well in, but I was just the right amount of nervous I guess. I kind of shook off the nerves once I got that first one (the 9.27), everyone loves to start a heat off like that."
Jordy Smith, 23, 2010 ASP World Runner-Up, has returned to Australia following an off-season spent in his native South Africa, and the well-built natural-footer continued to shine amongst the world's best. Smith blitzed opponents Patrick Gudauskas, 25, and Mitch Crews, 20, with unmatched power and aerial prowess.
"I'm super excited about the new season," Smith said. "I just had a good start. I spent Christmas at home with my family, it was the first time I've been able to do that in 10 years and now it's good to be on the Gold Coast, stoked".
Mick Fanning, 29, former two-time ASP World Champion, secured the day's highest single-wave score, a 9.33 out of a possible 10, for a Houdini-esque barrel and some unbridled power surfing.
"I'm pretty stoked I got that one good wave at the start and that settled the nerves," Fanning said. "It was really slow and really wobbly out there. There wasn't really any wind, so I'm just pretty stoked to feel one out and make it through that first heat."
Kelly Slater, 39, reigning 10-time ASP World Champion, remained calculated in dealing with the day's deteriorating conditions. The Floridian scrapped past wildcard Matt Banting, 16, and Kai Otton, 31, to advance directly to Round 3 of competition.
"I don't really approach heats with wildcards differently," Slater said. "My game plan stays the same. There are heats where you know you have to let loose, but today was more focusing on getting the good waves and completing them. It's not exceptional out there, so if you find a clean face and get a few good carves, you'll probably get the highest score of the heat. I was just trying to find the clean ones."
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1:Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.26, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.44, Heitor Alves (BRA) 6.57
Heat 2: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 15.67, Gabe Kling (USA) 12.27, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.03
Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.03, Bobby Martinez (USA) 12.57, Cory Lopez (USA) 7.90
Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.67, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 9.17, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 9.10
Heat 5: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.07, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 10.37, Mitch Crews (AUS) 11.07
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 13.93, Matt Banting (AUS) 11.34, Kai Otton (AUS) 6.70
Heat 7: Owen Wright (AUS) 12.83, Taylor Knox (USA) 11.46, Dusty Payne (HAW) 10.60
Heat 8: Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.70, Marc Lacomare (FRA) 9.87, Brett Simpson (USA) 7.77
Heat 9: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.00, Adriano de Souza (BRA), Alejo Muniz (BRA) 10.20
Heat 10: Daniel Ross (AUS), 13.00, Michel Bourez (PYF) 9.10, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 7.43
Heat 11: Adam Melling (AUS) 11.40, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 11.13, Chris Davidson (AUS) 10.73
Heat 12: Tiago Pires (PRT) 15.83, Jadson Andre (BRA)12.70, Damien Hobgood (USA) 11.77
Italo Ferreira wins 2019 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast
Julian Wilson wins the 2018 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast
Owen Wright wins the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast 2017
Tight battles in the 2017 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast
Matt Wilkinson wins the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast 2016


We interview award-winning crime and historical novelist, Sarah Dunant, to find out more about how she researches and writes her books.
Sarah Dunant published her first novel in 1988 and has since gone on to carve an award-winning career for herself.
Her crime series, 'Fatlands' won the 1993 Silver Dagger Award and feature discussion points on cosmetic surgery and animal rights. Her critically-acclaimed Renaissance novel, 'In the Name of the Family', was The Times' Best Historical Fiction of the Year and challenged preconceptions of women's roles in Renaissance Italy.
We chat to Sarah to find out how she goes about researching her novels, and how she approaches her writing day. She also helps us get to grips with our inner-critics and shares her insights and advice on writing based on her thirty-year career.


text:
WHITEPAPER LOGIN SIGN UP
The Fenix Token
The Responsible Coin Offering (the RCO)
Development Roadmap
FENIX Content Contest
Posted on August 10, 2018 May 13, 2019 by fenixcash
QUESTIONS WHILE ON THE ROAD IN TOKYO
I have just finished a long but highly successful trip to Tokyo where I presented at Blockchain Unchained to more than 300 well-informed participants, where I was asked a number of pertinent questions — I wanted to take stock for a few minutes and share my responses to them with you all.
Why is a fan-based eco-system important?
At FENIX, we are fully focused on transitioning aggressively to a fan-based ecosystem. In fact, all of our interactions with bands have been around bringing their fans onto the FENIX platform immediately upon completion of the ITO.
The way we explain it is this:
Our intention, through our band reward system and other initiatives, is to have thousands of bands signed up to FENIX before we complete our ITO — is that realistic? See "How will you get adoption of FENIX" below.
If we were to sign up 10,000 bands and conservatively assume that each band has an average of 500 fans, which would equate to an initial fan base of up to 5 million fans.
We intend to ask our bands to activate their fan bases three weeks before the close of our ITO, which will involve three things:
Bands will be able to send their App to their fans for the first time;
Bands will explain to the fans that through the FENIX App, they will be
offering new products / experiences, many of which will be limited in number; and
Fans will be able to buy such products / experiences on [x] date, which will be the day after closing of the ITO.
These fans are not passive — we know that they are passionate about their favorite bands and that through FENIX, they are being provided with a whole new way to access products / experiences.
What this means is that on the first day of trading, we believe that anyone wishing to sell their FENIX Tokens will be met with a wall of demand from fans wishing to buy product from their favorite bands.
This demand will rapidly transition the user pool of FENIX Tokens from initial purchasers to fans.
Fans will principally buy tokens to immediately use them to acquire products /experiences;
Because these products will be sold with prices fixed to one of six fiat
currencies, the value of the underlying FENIX Token will be largely irrelevant to the fan;
Demand for the FENIX Tokens will therefore be driven by their utility, and not by the price of the FENIX Token; and
Therefore, as long as fans are striving to buy products from their favorite
bands, demand will remain.
This approach allows the utility nature of FENIX to create a natural hedge against downward pressure from people who may have elected to acquire FENIX Tokens for other purposes, as well as pressure arising from the digital token nature of the FENIX Token and the market's perception of digital tokens in general. It also allows any sales of FENIX Tokens to create the liquidity required to flow through and power the FENIX ecosystem.
Talking to the Japanese community.
How will you get adoption of FENIX?
Now that we are sharing the Artist Dashboard with bands, we believe strongly that as soon as bands have access to FENIX, they will understand the benefits to them.
But in terms of underpinning that belief to make the likelihood of wide adoption even more certain, we are in the process of undertaking a number of key steps:
We have our band reward system, which will launch in the first half of August. This provides the first 10,000 bands onto the FENIX Platform with up to US$1,000 in FENIX Tokens for trying out the FENIX platform — this is a meaningful amount for most musicians and has proved to be exciting to a number of them;
We have also offered these bands an additional US$150 in FENIX Tokens for every band that they refer to FENIX who signs up. Each band that I have spoken to is excited to share FENIX with their peers, regardless of any bonus scheme that we may be offering;
We are about to launch a comprehensive marketing and PR campaign through traditional media, as well as through key ambassadors, with a focus on bands and the benefits of the FENIX platform to them;
We have identified, and are in discussions with, a number of bodies that represent large groups of independent bands (some as large as thousands of bands), explaining the benefits of FENIX for their members — we are seeking their endorsement of FENIX and a recommendation from them of FENIX to their members and it is clear that we will receive both in many quarters; and
We have direct points of contact to several thousand bands that we will be reaching out to individually and inviting them to try FENIX through our band reward program.
It's also important when we talk about adoption to understand the power of scale with a global proposition like FENIX. It is estimated that there are eight million bands in the world, a tiny percentage of which are currently signed to labels.
If we make the following assumptions:
The average band has 500 fans — we accept that some will have many more and others will have a fraction of that number, but lets assume that as a reasonable number; and
Every band introduces FENIX to five bands.
If we start with:
a pool of 100 bands, and
each band introduces it to five bands,
who each introduce it to five bands,
That amounts to 15,600 bands, or 7.8 million fans, which are both big numbers. However, to put kickstarting it all off into context, an initial pool of 100 bands could be seeded with only ten bands in each of ten cities — a far more manageable number, which would still lead to 7.8 million fans.
Now multiply that by 10 to 1,000 bands — up to 78 million fans and you get the idea…
With music, you have a truly global proposition and one that could scale at an alarmingly fast rate. And if that audience comes onboard because they are after something that they really want — then we truly have an ecosystem that is capable of redefining the music space.
Now, the beauty of having founders who have been around for a long time is that we don't take anything for granted, and in particular, we don't rely on anything as fickle as organic or viral growth. Hence the various initiatives that we have set out above. Once these initiatives are implemented, we consider they are likely to foster explosive organic growth, even if we are not relying on that.
We believe that FENIX has the ability to be a massive proposition and a great medium by which to introduce the mass market to the elements that the block chain and a digital currency have to offer. The numbers support that belief and our strategy to kickstart the adoption of FENIX will be adopted across a number of channels.
Aren't you going to battle with the existing industry heavyweights?
We honestly believe that this is missing the point — FENIX is there for the millions of bands that are below the radar of the existing labels and music services. If anything, we are giving artists a stage where anyone can come and see them — existing fans, new fans, labels, producers — the more the merrier…
If a label were to see a band on FENIX and feel that they would like to offer them a label deal, then they do so with our blessing. Of course, the beauty of being decentralised is that it will then be up to the band as to whether they wish to accept such a deal and the costs that comes with it.
And if improving transparency, reducing breakage and providing distribution for artists without massive costs associated is considered going to battle, then that is a war that we at FENIX are more than happy to engage in.
Why don't you get the big celebrities onto FENIX?
We understand the importance of a new product being endorsed by high profile personalities. However, what we want to avoid is making the FENIX platform into something that it isn't for the sake of celebrity endorsement.
At its very core, FENIX is about the provision of a platform to assist those artists that don't have the luxury of the infrastructure that comes with being a major celebrity. It is also about providing better points of access for fan bases of smaller bands who just don't have the means to create that point of contact.
BuzzAngleMusic reported that 99% of the 377 billion music streams in 2017 came from the top 10% of the most streamed tracks. This is the imbalance that FENIX is trying to address — to allow the 99% a platform for their craft. It is also the reason why we don't believe that FENIX is a platform for those artists already signed to label deals — those guys have lots of support already.
Having said that, we are talking to a number of celebrities and ambassadors about FENIX and while they are all excited about what FENIX has to offer. we are not asking them in the first instance about putting their music onto FENIX.
One pleasant thing that has impressed me about the band community is that those who have made it, more often than not, are happy to do what they can to help other bands on the way up. What we are looking into is how best we can use FENIX RISING to give these celebrity artists a platform to use their own brand to introduce the world to their favorite upcoming artists.
Watch this space because there are going to be some exciting endorsements coming up that are a bit more creative in terms of allowing established artists to help artists through the FENIX platform.
There are lots of music propositions involving the blockchain out there — Why is FENIX any different?
I hear this one a lot and it's something I've heard about differing businesses many times throughout my career. In the case of FENIX, I believe the answer is clearer than most other cases:
FENIX has started with a problem and a solution, rather than looking at the technology as the starting point:
More money and better distribution for bands; and
Better access for fans to their favourite bands.
We have not tried to change things beyond our control, nor have we relied on people behaving in any way other than their own best interests.
We have focused on adoption by both bands and their fans and have worked hard to create a means to distribute FENIX and a proposition that is instantly attractive to both sets of key stakeholders.
Once FENIX is widely adopted and improving the life of everyone within the ecosystem, then introducing key blockchain elements will be simple and will need little justification.
I have yet to find a proposition that addresses all of these issues at its outset and therefore remain entirely confident that FENIX has the ability to outperform any of the other music offerings already in the market or about to be launched.
I have tried to address some of the questions that I have been asked at various stages over the last couple of weeks. I would however note that for every question of concern there has been an overwhelming amount of positive feedback about FENIX and how we are going about implementing it in the coming weeks.
I will be on the ground in Melbourne this week, focusing on the feedback we have received on the Artist Dashboard and finetuning the App, as well as working with my co-founders on a number of other key announcements — watch this space… There's lots more to come.
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text:
NHL will bring back old school hockey this season, can Flyers survive it?
By Joseph Santoliquito
Flyers NHL
Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports
Philadelphia Flyers forwards Claude Giroux (28) and Travis Konecny (11) fight for the puck against New York Islanders center Brock Nelson (29).
The parking lot outside of the Wells Fargo Center may be barren, with the COVID-19 protocols still in place this coming Flyers' season. However, there may be a transformation taking place inside each time the Flyers touch the ice.
They could be skating into a time capsule.
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With the condensed 56-game NHL schedule, and great familiarity the Flyers will have with their East Division opponents, playing each one of them eight times, emotions are certain to stir.
The result could be a yank back in time to the intense play of the 1990s — sans the glowing puck, oversized goalie pads and "the trap." The festering bad blood that's sure to build could produce a hybrid of today's fast game with the old-school North American high-contact, tight-checking brand of hockey from three decades ago.
If it does revert to that style, do the Flyers have the physical makeup to survive it?
NBC Sports' NHL game analysts Eddie Olczyk, Brian Boucher, Pierre McGuire and AJ Mleczko weighed in as the Flyers open their 2020-21 season Wednesday against the hated Pittsburgh Penguins.
"Flyers' coach Alain Vigneault has always been able to get his teams, not necessarily an individual, but his teams to another level," Olczyk said. "He did that (last year). I wouldn't say AV is necessarily a four-line coach, but he understands that it will be even more important (this season).
"The Flyers have done a good job with their depth, especially up front. They're hard to play against and they need some young guys to continue to take that next step."
There will be a mental and physical demand on the players, squeezing a season into January through to May. The Flyers will play back-to-back eight times this season. The only break they will get comes in February, when they have no back-to-back games.
"The idea that you're playing more nights with less breaks, and the physical breakdown these players will take makes the depth of all of these teams super important," Mleczko said. "You look at the rivalries, you look at the intensity of a shorter season, and there is an argument it's more like a sprint than a marathon of a normal 82-game season.
"What Philly showed before the pause last year, they were a hard team to play against and they were physical. What impressed me the most about Philly, especially in February and March, and fast forward to August, was their ability to play any style.
"Whatever teams threw at them, they were able to adjust. Part of that is how they're made up and it also has a lot to do with their grittiness, no pun intended towards their mascot. They have a chip on their shoulder and they're proving people wrong. That Eastern Division is going to be really, really tough, but I think Philly is built for longevity this season."
The NHL realigned its divisions this season to North, South, East and West. Each team will only play its division opponents eight times each. The Flyers will be in the East with the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals.
Just because the Flyers will be playing the Bruins, Penguins and Rangers eight times each, Boucher wanted to make sure he put the kibosh that these Flyers would be channeling the Broad Street Bullies.
"We will see what guys are made of when the temperature rises," Boucher said. "I'm not talking about dropping the gloves, but competing, winning battles and having the inner push to realize these 56 games mean a lot more than an 82-game season.
"When I look at the Flyers' lineup, they have a fourth line, and it may not be the biggest line, but they have some character there. Fans shouldn't get the idea that this is all of a sudden going to revert back to the '70s and teams dropping the gloves on a nightly basis. It's going to be finding that inner compete."
Vigneault may challenge Jake Voracek after a poor second-round playoff performance against the New York Islanders and Flyers' captain Claude Giroux is always challenged by the demanding Philadelphia fanbase.
"It's going to make for some good drama, but what we won't see are gloves all over the ice," Boucher said.
McGuire pointed out the Flyers do have a stabilizer—22-year-old goalie Carter Hart. In his first full NHL season, he went 24-13-3 overall with a .914 save percentage and 2.42 goals-against average and 1 shutout. In anchoring the Flyers' first playoff series victory in eight years and reaching the NHL's Eastern Conference second round, extending the Islanders to seven games, he was amazing an 9-5, with a .926 save percentage and a 2.23 goals-against postseason average.
"Hart takes a lot of pressure off of whether it's Jake Voracek or Giroux, guys who aren't getting any younger," McGuire said. "That will be interesting to watch. You don't see a lot of fighting stuff in the NHL anymore, those days are long gone. What you do see are a lot of grinders, character guys, guys who aren't afraid to win races, or take hits to make plays, they're important players.
"The Flyers have a lot of those guys."
Olczyk does believe friction will be there, especially playing the same teams twice within 24 hours.
"The way the schedule is this will be very similar to baseball, where all you can do is shack up, go to the rink and go back to your hotel and that's it," Olczyk said. "Somebody puts one high and hard one around somebody's chin, within reasons of good taste and within rules of the game, you have the opportunity to come right back in 24 hours or 48 hours and either settle the score or send a message.
"It is going to be intense — it really is. Looking at the teams in that Eastern Division, you can have a few points between first and fifth. The temperature is going to rise as we get further into the season."
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who has been writing for PhillyVoice since its inception in 2015 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.
Joseph Santoliquito
Read more Flyers NHL Philadelphia Jakub Voracek Alain Vigneault


Table Tent Character Sheets for Lankhmar. The form-fillable full color table tent character sheets for Lankhmar are now in your downloads at PEGinc.com, and were sent out as links...... (Updated for The Seas of Nehwon!) Bring the Twain—or those like them—to your table! Featuring brilliant art by Aaron Acevedo, Chris Bivins, Bartomiej Fedyczak, and Jon Taylor, the Lankhmar Archetypes bring eight full-color, ready-to-play archetypes representing iconic characters from Fritz Lieber's Lankhmar series.
lankhmar city of adventure wo, 05 dec 2018 23:55:00 GMT lankhmar city of adventure pdf - Two Sought Adventure, the first published story collection... 17/01/2018 · The city of Lankhmar springs to life as an exciting setting for the AD&D 2nd Edition game. Visit the fabled Rainbow Palace, stroll the surly streets of the old town, haggle at the market place or risk the winding maze of the Tenderloin.
In addition to the main book, this set includes: A 30"x19" color map of Lankhmar. A 32-page supplementary book. This includes small maps of city districts for player use, geomorphic maps to allow the DM to randomly generate parts of the city, DM record sheets, and copies of the character descriptions from the main book.... In addition to the main book, this set includes: A 30"x19" color map of Lankhmar. A 32-page supplementary book. This includes small maps of city districts for player use, geomorphic maps to allow the DM to randomly generate parts of the city, DM record sheets, and copies of the character descriptions from the main book.
Goodman Games have launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a Lankhmar Boxed Set for Dungeon Crawl Classics. The set, due for release in August 2018 if successfully funded, will explore the fantastic swords & sorcery world of Nehwon created by Fritz Leiber through his series of classic novels.
(Updated for The Seas of Nehwon!) Bring the Twain—or those like them—to your table! Featuring brilliant art by Aaron Acevedo, Chris Bivins, Bartomiej Fedyczak, and Jon Taylor, the Lankhmar Archetypes bring eight full-color, ready-to-play archetypes representing iconic characters from Fritz Lieber's Lankhmar series.


Wwwhhaaaaaa??!!! Why is the gun floating?
turret offset right or something?
It's probably a useful post to have, though. In case anyone goes looking though the entire voxel forum, finds this, and wishes that someone had simply posted the offset value.
even though you people get excited over bumps... even you people should know his post was worthy to have anyways.
This bump was rather productive, when the topic miss something, even such bump is good.
I see the black hole syndrom.
Other than that the HORV looks good.
the voxel is old. back then, anything got spotlighted if the idea was good and work has been put into it.
wardeathfun, it's simply a good voxel. I don't see anything wrong with it being spotlighted.
yep. but all we need is the one at the bottom right.
oops. forgot the downloads. here.
Newer one looks good though, so it shouldnt matter regardless.


I've had some queries about teaching ideas for Leonardo Da Vinci as I suggested it as a teaching topic for the month of April. I love history, especially all things Renaissance. With my Italian blood I may be biased but I think Leonardo Da Vinci is a fab topic because you can bring him into so many different subjects, be it Science, Art, History or Geography! Leonardo Da Vinci day is the 15th April, but he doesn't have to be a once off topic! You could easily get a whole months thematic teaching out it if you really wanted.
Like I did for the Titanic, I've put together a chart of ideas, if you've any other nice suggestions, be sure to mention them! If you would like a copy of this chart or the Titanic one from earlier in the week, just let me know!
When doing topic teaching I always like to have a variety of books on display for the children to go to and examine independently, here is a selections of books that go along with this theme with a link to where you can purchases each!
I've uploaded a resource pack and some individual resources to mash.ie you can find them here if you're on the hunt for some ready made activities! Let me know what you think!
Hope this post was useful!
Last day of Easter break for me, I'm doing my very best not to complain!!
Also, a special thank you to all my lovely followers who have sent me such lovely messages and feedback over the past few days! Makes a girl smile!