Abstract: To provide a lighting device which is enabled to light a lamp of an incandescent bulb or the like in high luminance by a battery to be amounted on a vehicle. A lighting source lighting device 10 includes: an inverter 11 for converting a direct current from a vehicle-mounted battery 15 into an alternating current; and current adding means 13 for adding the direct current from the vehicle-mounted battery 15 and alternating current generated by the inverter 11, to supply a light source 14, such as a head lamp, with the added electric current. In this construction, the light source 14 is driven with the electric current containing the direct current and alternating current superimposed thereon so that the light source luminance microscopically changes with the period of the alternating current.

Abstract: A pad encryption software architecture includes space on a floppy for storing the pad to be used with the encryption software. The pad is XOR generated with random numbers subject to redetermined offsets. If the pad is smaller than the text to be encrypted, then XOR takes several cycles with redetermined offsets used in XORing the pad with the remaining plain text to be encrypted. The offset is determined from a user selected password. New offsets are determined from old offsets by adding the current offset to the value of the byte in the pad located at the offset value.

Abstract: A CPU is provided with an ability to modify its operation in accordance with an encryption key. When a program is compiled, the program is modified in order that execution may be performed with the CPU with its operation modified. As a result, it is unnecessary to decrypt the program into standard op codes prior to execution. The keyed program operation permits secure transfer of program data through open channels such as the Internet. A programmable instruction decoder programmable decodes encrypted instruction op codes, without decrypting them into standard op codes. Logic is used to accomplish network handshaking. The network handshaking further used to provide additional key information for continued operation the CPU.

Abstract: A method of continuously replenishing a four-transistor static RAM storage cell is described. Such method comprises biasing both the back gate terminals and the normal gate terminals of the two bit line coupling transistors in the static RAM storage cell to voltage levels for causing a flow of small compensating currents through such coupling transistors when they are in a standby or non-access condition. Such small compensating currents are supplied to the two storage transistors in the storage cell for replenishing leakage of charge from the parasitic capacitance in the storage cell. The bias voltages arc supplied by adaptive bias circuits which adjust the bias voltages to track changes in the leakage of charge from the parasitic cell capacitance.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for cleaning and/or drying objects that may have been wetted or contaminated in a manufacturing process. The objects are submerged in a rinse liquid in an enclosed chamber, and aerosol particles from a selected liquid are introduced into the chamber above the rinse liquid surface, forming a thin film on this surface. As the rinse liquid is slowly drained, some aerosol particles settle onto the exposed surfaces of the objects, and displace and remove rinse liquid residues from the exposed surfaces by a “chemical squeegeeing” effect. Surface contaminants are also removed by this process. Chamber pressure is maintained at or near the external environment pressure as the rinse liquid is drained from the chamber. Inert gas flow is employed to provide aerosol particles of smaller size and/or with greater dispersion within the chamber. Continuous filtering and shunt filtering are employed to remove most contaminants from the selected liquid.

Abstract: Method and system for accurate vehicle navigation and tracking within a selected lane on a roadway or a waterway. A location determination (LD) receiver, carried on the vehicle, receives LD signals from satellite-based LD signal sources, receives LD signal correction information from one or more other wide area LD correction sources, estimates a corrected vehicle location (good to within 10-50 cm) and velocity (optional) relative to one or more lane boundaries that define the selected lane, and displays vehicle location and velocity within the lane. When the vehicle approaches a lane boundary too quickly, or is too close to the lane boundary, an alarm signal or other control mechanism can be activated. The LD correction information is delivered to the LD receiver via a channel of suitable bandwidth. The system can also be used to map and store lane boundary coordinates for selected segments of a roadway or waterway.

Abstract: A system for restricting use of a vehicle by a selected vehicle operator to permitted time intervals and permitted vehicle travel corridors. If a driver is seated behind the driver's wheel, the system requires that the driver provide one or more samples of an ident indicium, such as a fingerprint, facial scan, retinal scan, voice sample or blood sample analysis, to identify the driver, or of a personal identification indicium contained on a token or card, or of personal information entered using a data entry device (e.g., keypad). When this indicium is satisfactorily presented and analyzed, the system allows operation of the vehicle (including selected vehicle accessories) but further determines (i) whether the present time and/or accumulated vehicle operation time and/or mileage is within a permitted time interval or accumulated time and/or mileage range and (ii) whether the vehicle present location and/or speed are within permitted ranges corresponding to the permitted time interval.

Abstract: Method and system for controllable deposit of copper onto an exposed surface of a workpiece, such as a semiconductor surface. A seed thickness of copper is optionally deposited onto the exposed surface, preferably using oxygen-free liquid ammonia to enhance this deposition. The workpiece exposed surface is then immersed in an electroplating solution, including copper and liquid ammonia at a suitable pressure and temperature, and copper is caused to plate onto the exposed surface at a controllable rate. When the copper deposited on the exposed surface reaches a selected total thickness, electroplating is discontinued, the electroplating solution is removed, and the gaseous and liquid ammonia are recovered and recycled for re-use.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for estimating a line bias for a signal received from a common signal source at each of two or more GPS signal receivers. Single difference solutions are obtained for angular orientation of an antenna array and for antenna location, using a two-thread or two-procedure process for determining and updating line bias variation within each of a sequence of time intervals.

Abstract: Methods for identification of, and compensation for, the effects of presence of a multipath signal in a received composite digital signal that includes a direct, distortion-free signal. A direct signal is additively or multiplicatively combined with a distinguishable indicium signal and the resultant signal is transmitted to a receiver. The indicium signal may be distinguished by use of a different frequency or by use of a bit pattern that cannot be included in a direct signal pattern. The receiver identifies the received indicium signal within the received signal, compares the received indicium signal with a reference signal that is substantially a replica of the transmitted indicium signal, determines what operations will convert the reference signal into the received indicium signal, and applies an inverse of these operations to the portion of the received signal that contains the received direct signal, to obtain an enhanced received direct signal with reduced multipath signal effects.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for drying and/or cleaning a workpiece, such as an electronic part, semiconductor wafer, printed circuit board or the like. As the workpiece is withdrawn from a processing liquid, a selected drying liquid, such as hydrofluoroether (HFE), ethylated HFE, an HFE azeotrope or an ethylated HFE azeotrope, that has a very small surface tension, is volatile, and has a density that is greater than the processing liquid density, is sprayed on, dribbled on or otherwise transferred to an exposed surface of the workpiece. The exposed surface may be stationary, may be rotating or may be moving along a selected path. The workpiece can be dried in 5-60 seconds, or less, in most situations and can be cleaned using the invention. Drying and/or cleaning can be performed in a single workpiece process, a single workpiece continuous process or a batch process.

Abstract: A wire connection system that includes an arcuate wire and a pair of tube ends; or two or more wires, at least one wire being arcuate, and two or more pairs of tube ends. Each wire has a first wire end that fits into a first tube end and has a second wire end that fits into a second tube end, where two tube ends in a connected pair are either rigidly attached to each other or are partly free to rotate relative to each other. One or both tube ends in a connected pair has an interior including an annular region of easily compressible material, with an annular region aperture having an aperture diameter that is less than the diameter of the wire end accepted by the tube end. Alternatively, friction between at least one tube end and a temporarily deformed wire end received by the tube end holds the wire end in place. The system can serve as a pendant, an earring, a neckpiece, a bracelet or other decorative item for jewelry, beads, cards, placards or other appendages.

Abstract: Apparatus for providing an enhanced grip between a gloved hand and a handle or other object to be gripped. A portion or all of the glove and a portion or all of the handle are provided with selected first and second gripping surfaces, respectively, of the same or different materials, that join together, temporarily or permanently, and provide a stronger hand-to-handle grip that resists slipping. Alternatively, a flexible band, having second and third gripping surfaces on opposite sides, is wrapped around a first object that is to be rotated or otherwise moved relative to a second object, such as a lid and a jar. A gloved hand, having a first gripping surface, grips the flexible band and the first object and forms a strong temporary join between hand, flexible band and first object, allowing the first object to be more easily moved. Various thermoplastic, amorphous polymers, crystalline polymers and rubber-like materials can be used for the gripping surfaces.

Abstract: Methods for providing a representation of location coordinates for a collection of survey points with enhanced accuracy. An obliquely oriented cylindrical surface, rather than a tangent plane, is determined and used as the projection surface at or near a survey base point, with the angular orientation and radius of the cylinder being chosen to optimize the accuracy of the projection. A scale factor that corrects for distances of locations projected onto the cylindrical surface is optionally determined and applied. A three-dimensional transformation of survey location coordinates, optimized to provide a best fit for a selected set of fiducial survey locations, is determined that provides a correspondence between a globally determined height coordinate and a locally determined elevation coordinate.

Abstract: Methods and apparati for representing and storing a sequence of digital data values so that, once stored in memory, a data value cannot be modified, or cannot be modified without detection. Detection of subsequent data alteration may use error checksums, storage of instrument data in different data fields, data constraint relations, data encryption techniques and/or comparison of instrument identification numbers. Where data are to be stored in non-alterable form, the number of elements used in representing the sequence is reduced or minimized. A data value sequence can be supplemented by one or more additional data values that are received and similarly stored, without changing any of the sequence of data values already stored. The instrument data values can be individual readout values or can be accumulated sums of data values. Some of the methods are exact, allowing reconstruction of any data value with zero error. Other methods are approximate but are less complex to apply.

Abstract: A system for monitoring location and speed of a vehicle, using a location determination system such as GPS, GLONASS or LORAN and an optional odometer or speedometer, for determining and recording the locations and times at which vehicle speed is less than a threshold speed for at least a threshold time (called a "vehicle arrest event"). Vehicle arrest event locations, times and time intervals are stored and/or printed to provide trip and mileage records and for efficiency monitoring. A vehicle odometer and/or speedometer can also be calibrated and/or corrected using this approach.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for formation of an autocorrelation difference function of an incoming digital signal, with bit transition interval length .DELTA..tau..sub.chip, that reduces the effects of presence of a multipath signal in an incoming composite signal. First and second autocorrelation functions AC(.tau.;E;qE) and AC(.tau.;L;qL) are formed with respective first and second selected time shift values .tau.=t.sub.E and .tau.=t.sub.L, which replicate an estimate of an autocorrelation function AC(.tau.;P;qP) at an intermediate time shift value .tau.=t.sub.P that satisfies t.sub.E <t.sub.P <t.sub.L with t.sub.L -t.sub.E <2.DELTA..tau..sub.chip, and which depend upon one or more parameters qE and qL, respectively. Independently chosen, non-uniform weighting functions w1(t;qE) and w2(t;qL) are used for formation of the respective autocorrelation functions AC(.tau.;E;qE) and AC(.tau.;L;qL) that depend upon one or more parameters qE and qL.