Abstract: In recent years increasing dependencies between public and private organizations lead to a growing need for public-private partnerships. However, cultural and institutional differences between the public and private domain and, in addition, the difficulties of bringing the two together, constitute a serious threat to successful public-private partnership. The formation of these partnerships is further hindered by confusion of the concept of public-private partnership. The predominant model of contracting out restricts rather than enhances public-private interaction. This article deals with the difficulties and risks involved in building public-private partnerships and tries to answer the question of how to overcome them. The issue is illustrated by an analysis of the attempts made to realize a huge port expansion in the port of Rotterdam by means of establishing public-private partnership.

Abstract: This paper focuses on the response of port authorities to the changing market environment in which they operate. It documents the changes taking place in the relationships between port authorities and terminal management companies and considers the strategic issues faced by these groups and other port interests. In particular, it investigates the potential conflicts of interest for a port authority in matters related to the level of competition amongst terminals within a port and the amount of competition amongst ports.

Abstract: This paper focuses on the response of port authorities to the changing market environment in which they operate. It documents the changes taking place in the relationships between port authorities and terminal management companies and considers the strategic issues faced by these groups and other port interests. In particular, it investigates the potential conflicts of interest for a port authority in matters related to the level of competition amongst terminals within a port and the amount of competition amongst ports.

Abstract: PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the security of a virtual private network utilizing the IP network. SOLUTION: A router device is provided with a VR port 30 for each user of a virtual private network service. Each VR port 30 has a routing table 32 for a corresponding virtual private network. A control channel terminating part 33 and a VPN constitution module 35 set L2TP tunnels between VR ports belonging to the same virtual private network and themselves. A gateway protocol daemon 31 exchanges routing information through the set L2TP tunnels to generate/update the routing tables 32. An inputted packet is routed in accordance with the routing tables 32. COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Abstract: The continuous process of change in international transport management in the last 10 years, from a segmented modal approach towards a much more integrated transport concept tailored to better meet the pressing needs of customer industries, is resulting in an increasing pressure on ports to adapt their role and function to this more demanding operational environment. This entails the rethinking of national port development strategies, as well as far-reaching reforms in the legislative, regulatory, and managerial environment within which commercial ports have to operate. In particular, the need to define new partnerships between the public and private sectors in port operations, investment financing and asset management leads to a review of the respective roles of public and private actors, and specifically calls for a clarification of the mandate of the public sector, and simultaneously of the missions it would be well placed to undertake. These missions are likely to be more of a catalyst and facilitator, together with a stress on assistance to public statutory duties, with a particular attention devoted to transport safety and environmental protection. New labour practices are also calling for a changing role for port workers' unions and a new style of dialogue between labour and public and private entities on the waterfront. Simultaneously, efficiency of inland transport to serve an increasing, and most often disputed hinterland has become a critical factor of the ports potential future, as well as of overall trade growth prospects. Today's global logistics organisation makes it mandatory for shippers worldwide to be able to rely on seamless transport chains, of which the port is a prominent node. Smooth interaction between the port and the city often surrounding it, in terms of transport networks requirements, environmental protection, and overall safety, therefore appears a prerequisite for effective delivery of integrated logistics services. Port authorities are likely to have a major role to play in fostering the development of an effective cooperation between interested public and private players, which will be required to make it possible to achieve the expected benefits of integrated transport and logistic operations. Finally, the institutional context, as well as the assets ownership and managerial framework, must be conducive to an optimal cost-effective utilisation of port facilities. This supposes openness to competition in provision of port services, and establishment of appropriate regulation arrangements where market conditions make it necessary. Physical and regulatory integration of transport networks, as well as comprehensive strategies for addressing development planning, environmental and social issues, will also be required to allow national port systems to provide local and regional economies with the services they need.

Abstract: During the past 20 years world seaborne trade increased by almost 40%. Liner shipping grew the fastest. Containerised cargo was clearly the most dynamic sector of global seaborne trade. Containerisation has thus been a major and increasingly important element of not only maritime activity, but also of world trade and of entire global industrial structure. The growing significance of containerisation is a reflection of the changes that have occurred in the international organisation of manufacturing and production. Container lines have moved through several organisational phases in the search for profitability. Most of the advances in containership design have been associated with the upsizing of vessels, both to accommodate trade growth and to offer economies of scale in a highly competitive market. Information technology is now seen as the great battleground of the next decade among not just carriers, but also forwarders, logistics based integrators and, potentially, pure technology companies who may use their systems expertise to enter the industry at the expense of traditional players. Container handling in ports is another area where technical advance is noticeable. Increasingly larger tonnage, especially of vessels deployed in the container market, will have significant implications for ports. Massive investments and substantial productivity improvements are generally required to enable ports to meet the stringent service requirements of their customers efficiently. The speed of container handling and consequent vessel turnaround time is a crucial issue in terms of competition. The worldwide trend towards greater private sector involvement in ports has become apparent. While wholesale privatisation has occurred in a few cases, what is more common is the introduction of private finance, operation and management in place of state funds and administration. The advent of the so-called ‘global stevedore’ in the 1980s has had a fundamental effect on port facility financing and management. The international stevedoring industry is made-up of participants with a commercial remit. The bottom line with port facility acquisitions or new terminal developments is that developers of all categories look for annual pre-tax returns in excess of 20% of turnover. While the acquisition and development of port facilities is a global business, it is one that is highly influenced by key individuals within the international stevedores. Competition among international stevedores and between these parties and ocean carriers for port concessions has never been stronger.

Abstract: A switching device for forwarding network traffic to a desired destination on a network, such as a telephone or computer network. The switching device includes multiple ports and uses a lookup table containing lookup keys to determine which port to forward network traffic over. The lookup tables are populated based on use. Consequently, the lookup tables on different ports contain different addresses. By storing only addresses that a port uses, each port's lookup table is unique to that port's characteristics. Additionally, aging techniques are used on both source and destination addresses in the lookup table so that stale entries are removed and memory is conserved.

Abstract: Structural changes in trade and logistics have forced the European seaport system to operate in an efficiency-oriented market environment. Private investors gradually increase their presence in the port industry, while the public sector is redefining its role through privatisation and liberalisation schemes. This paper deals with current port reform issues in Europe and their impact on efficiency in the port industry. Issues discussed in this paper include the contestability of private and public port operations and the desirability of intra-port monopolies, the danger for politicisation of technocratic port management, the existence of public goods in seaports and the need for public port investments. As such, this contribution adds to the conceptual debate on public sector involvement in an efficiency-oriented port industry.

Abstract: A port configuration mechanism is provided at a host for multiple port allocation and shared resource utilization to support multiple port configurations for different port operation modes on a host to handle data transfers in a switched fabric data network for scalable solutions.

Abstract: City and Port: Urban Planning as a Cultural Venture in London, Barcelona, New York and Rotterdam: Changing Relations between Public Urban Space and Largescale Infrastructure, Han Meyer, Utrecht, International Books, 424 pp., £35, US$65Han Meyer spent the 1980s working for the Rotterdam Department of Physical Planning and Urban Development where he participated in the transformation of the port in his home city. He is now Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning Design at Delft University of Technology. This book is clearly informed by his experience in Rotterdam, during a period when urban planners struggled to find appropriate techniques to transform abandoned port facilities in cities around the world. It was published in the original Dutch edition in 1996 and now appears in a heavily illustrated English language edition.The core of City and Port contains four detailed case studies of prominent urban waterfront redevelopment projects-London, Barcelona, New York and Rotterdam. However, the book is not intended as a waterfront catalogue, 'The port areas are given the role of coat racks on which a story of urban planning can be hung' (p. 10). This story focuses on two themes-the conflict between global infrastructure (the port) and the local networks; and the conflict between place and programme. The story is told in an introductory history essay, and a concluding chapter on urban infrastructure. The introduction traces the changing relationship between the four cities and their ports over two centuries. This section is illustrated by a fine series of diagrams that explain the spatial changes clearly and in a comparative format. The remainder of the chapter examines the role of urban planning in creating public spaces on the waterfront as the political culture shifted away from socialism. This cultural critique is the weakest part of the book. The post-structuralist connection from the French and Italian philosophers to European and American planning practice seems rather disjointed. The United States has not had a strong tradition of socialism in practice, but Mike Davis, Christine Boyer and Michael Sorkin are our guides to American place making. Meyer shares their disdain for the efforts of the private sector to produce the public realm of the city.The London case is on firmer ground examining the historical relationship between the port and the city. Meyer points out that the enclosed docks in the East End functioned efficiently but were a greater impediment to planning than the more open groups in other European cities. London had few public spaces in the working port and little tradition of public access, which affected future planning. Unfortunately, Meyer focuses most of the redevelopment discussion on Canary Wharf, devoting only a few paragraphs to the thousands of acres regenerated by the London Docklands Development Corporation at a more human scale. The problem is compounded by the mid-1990s date of the original text-Canary Wharf is dismissed as a debacle, left in the ruins of its 1992 bankruptcy, while the other docks were disjointed and incomplete. The past five years have seen the resurrection of Canary Wharf as London's third business centre and the knitting together of the many redevelopment projects in the Surrey and Limehouse docks. London is perhaps not the complete disaster portrayed in the case study, but the author correctly asks why all this vigorous redevelopment activity did not result in a coherent system of public open spaces along the Thames.Barcelona fares much better, perhaps because it is such a marvellous story. Meyer's case is probably the best account in the English language of the transformation of the city's waterfront. …

Abstract: The issue of financing and pricing of port infrastructure has recently been the subject of widespread debate in Europe and it is now high on the political agenda of the European Union. This is the result of globalisation and the changing operational environment of ports, as well as of the increased port competition brought about by the completion of the internal market. Greater private sector interest in the port industry, as well as in the rest of Europe's infrastructure, necessitates some form of cost-based pricing that would allow the recovery of port investments. This could, however, disturb the existing ‘equilibrium’ among ports that has been established over the years as a result of each port's particular characteristics such as geographical location, proximity to markets, navigational constraints, subsidies and types of financing. Among competing container ports, like those of western Europe, such ‘disturbances’ can have marked impacts on ports' market shares, as a result of the easiness carriers can nowadays switch between ports. Furthermore, efficient pricing in the port sector could not bring about the expected welfare effects if the rest of the related infrastructure is not priced accordingly. The issue thus appears to be reaching a standstill, particularly in view of the fact that in most countries ports are considered as part of the country's infrastructure and thus State investment in ports is considered as ‘public investment’ outside the reach and mandate of the European Commission. The paper argues that the prime goal to be pursued at a European level is to achieve a level playing field among competing commercial seaports. It also reviews the past and present efforts of the European Commission in this area, the difficulties and challenges these efforts are faced with and, finally, it attempts to indicate the way forward; a way consistent with Europe's political thinking, priorities and realities.

Abstract: The vehicle port control system has a capaciflective sensor, a port, a lock securing the port, and a control unit. The capaciflective sensor senses the presence of objects a predetermined distance from the vehicle port. The sensor communicates its readings to the control unit, which controls the actuation of the lock.

Abstract: The Latin American major ports are no longer inefficient state-run public monopolies. Common user ports tend to be concessioned under a landlord scheme, whereas specialised ports and terminals are more often privately owned or leased. New infrastructure is still being constructed, and regional and international private port companies participate in the port operations. The most renowned successes are Panama, Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia, but not all countries have advanced equally. The demand for private sector participation depends on the desire of the public sector to promote foreign trade and the need to reduce its fiscal burden. The supply of private sector participation by port operating companies appears to depend on the port's hinterland and the perceived country risk. Perceived corruption, illiteracy, and a pending broader structural reform seem to have a negative impact on both demand and on supply. The same socio-economic situation that, up to now, has acted as an obstacle to port reform in the poorest Latin American countries should be considered as motivation to proceed with the necessary reforms in the future. Privatised port operations may help the urgently needed general structural reform of the economy, including better education and more stable public institutions – which in turn will reduce the remaining obstacles for port privatisation. The challenge for policy makers is to initiate this virtuous cycle.

Abstract: A device for securely controlling communications among or within computers, computer systems, or computer networks, comprising: (a) a primary access port to which an “owner” computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network is connectable to access shared computer resources; (b) a secondary access port to which a non-owner computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network is connectable to access the shared computer resources; (c) a transfer port to which a shared computer resource is connectable to provide controlled access to that computer resource from computer programs, computers, computer systems, or computer networks connected to the access ports; and (d) a separate physical communication path to and from each access port and each transfer port, where access permissions and restrictions for each communication path are set by the owner of the device through the primary access port.

Abstract: A network device automatically detects the best protocol a network will support. The network device includes a driver for transmitting data, a receiver for receiving data, and a port operationally coupled to the driver and receiver. The network device further includes negotiation logic coupled to the driver and receiver for selecting a protocol in coordination with other network devices. The network device further includes error detection logic and backs down to a lower transmission rate if errors are detected after the initial negotiation of the selected protocol.

Abstract: A network switch and a method thereof for network communications include a first data port interface and a second data port interface supporting a data port transmitting and receiving data at a first data rate and a second data rate, respectively. The switch has a CPU interface to communicate with a CPU and a memory management unit to communicate data from at least one of the first and second data port interfaces and a memory. The switch includes a communication channel communicating data and messaging information between the first and second data port interfaces and the memory management unit and lookup tables, including an address resolution lookup table and a VLAN table. The first or second data port interfaces determine an egress port for an incoming data packet from a search of the address resolution lookup table and the VLAN table using a VLAN ID from the incoming data packet.

Abstract: A switch detects port failures and identifies a MAC address associated with the port failure. The switch then sends a failure notification message to other ports on the switch that identifies the MAC address associated with the port failure. The network processing devices on the other ports use the failure notification message to quickly determine if routes need to be reconfigured around an adjacency on the switch.

Abstract: In a network having a trace capability, a method to track the connectivity of the network uses the trace messages. A network manager creates a list of ports in the network and uses that list to track the connectivity. For each port, the manager first checks whether there is a current connection and if it finds one, the manager enables the transmission of a trace message that identifies the transmitting port. When a trace detected message is received from a port, the network manager updates the list of ports with the connection just reported and disables the trace message that was detected. A port sending a trace message that is not detected is marked as not connected in the list. The method is useful in high bandwidth circuit-based networks, such as optical networks, composed of links of many types and utilizing differing protocols.

Abstract: An improved method and a system of utilizing the decoding/encoding video resources of a Video Processing Device (VPD) by offering a distributed architecture. A conventional VPD comprises a plurality of video ports, each video port is dedicated to a user and comprises at least one decoder and one encoder. The distributed VPD comprises a plurality of input ports and a plurality of output ports. Each input port includes an input module. The input module is operative to receive a compressed video input stream, manipulate the compressed video stream into a primary stream and optionally generate a secondary data stream associated with the primary data stream. A variety of levels of service for a session can be offered. A client may select the number of ports that will be used by the session. For example, a single port may multicast its compressed output video stream to all the destinations within a session, or to all destinations within a plurality of ports. The multicasting may be such that there is anywhere from one port for each group of destinations using the same compressed video stream to one port for each user.

Abstract: The failover of network nodes by path rerouting or port remapping is disclosed. A system may include a manager component, a first switch, and/or a second switch. The component specifies destination address alternate routes. Upon first node failure, the component selects one of these routes to route the address to a second node. The first switch has a port for a third and a fourth node. Upon third node failure, the first switch remaps a destination address from the port for the third node to that for the fourth node. The second switch has an input port for a fifth and a sixth node, and a visible output port and hidden output ports to receive an expanded port range. Upon fifth node failure, the second switch uses the range to remap a destination address from the input port for the fifth node to that for the sixth node.

Abstract: The vehicle port control system comprises a capaciflective sensor, a port, a lock securing the port, and a control unit. The capaciflective sensor senses the presence of objects a predetermined distance from the vehicle port. The sensor communicates its readings to the control unit, which controls the actuation of the lock.

Abstract: A switching fabric having cross points that process multiple stripes of serial data. Each cross point includes a plurality of port slices and ports. Each port includes a plurality of FIFOs, a FIFO read arbitrator, a multiplexer, a dispatcher, and an accumulator. In one embodiment, each cross point has eight ports and eight port slices. A method for processing a stripe of data at a cross point at one port slice includes storing data received from other port slices in a plurality of FIFOs and arbitrating the reading of the stored data. A step of writing data received from a port at the one port slice to an appropriate FIFO in a different port slice is also included. In one embodiment, a method for processing data in port slice based on wide cell encoding and an external flow control command is provided.

Abstract: This work enquires into the social and mental world of 18th-century Bristolians. It asks such questions as: how did the city's merchants interact with the forces behind British colonization?; and what was the relationship between trade in slaves and trade in slave-produced commodities?

Abstract: Virtual channels are used to improve quality of service through a large port count switch. Data frames are sent from one small switch to another small switch within the large port count switch on virtual channels. The use of virtual channels helps prevent congestion caused by a first external source device sending data to a first external destination device from affecting a second external source device sending data to a second external destination device.

Abstract: Methods, systems and computer program products provide assignment of ports for connections originated by multiple application instances executing on different data processing systems utilizing a common network address. An indication of available ports for the common network address is provided to each of the different data processing systems executing the multiple application instances. A port identified as available is selected as a port for a connection utilizing the common network address.

Abstract: A data rate controller controls a rate that data is transferred over a backplane in a network processing device. A bandwidth allocator allocates bandwidth to an input port for transmitting data over the backplane to an output port. A bandwidth limiter identifies a maximum allowable bandwidth the input port is allocated on the backplane. A bandwidth tracker identifies an amount of bandwidth currently allocated to the input port for transmitting data over the backplane to the output port. When the current allocated bandwidth is used up, the data rate controller prevents that input port from connecting to output ports through the backplane until more bandwidth is allocated.

Abstract: An integrated network element includes the functions of multiple Ring add-drop-multiplexers and a digital cross connect. A user may provision cross connections between input and output path-level units of bandwidth referred to herein as “logical tributaries.” Each port within the integrated network element may be combined with one or more other ports to form a user-provisioned association of optical interface ports that is used for line protection (or SDH multiplex section protection) in a particular type of network configuration, referred to as a “port protection group”. Each port within a port protection group may have a plurality of logical tributaries associated with it. By allowing a user to provision cross connections between logical tributaries, rather than directly between ports, an integrated network element in accordance with the principles of the present invention permits a user to provision working and protection paths from any port to any other port in the integrated network element without requiring the user to know the details, such as switching status, whether a port associated with a particular port tributary is a member of a port protection group, what type of port protection group a port tributary is a member of, the state of protection switching, or other such details. A user interface allows a user to provision the behavior and report the results of path-level signal monitoring (for faults and performance) and of path-level protection switching.