Abstract: An upper airway stimulator for treating obstructive sleep apnea is described. In some embodiments, the upper airway stimulator monitors the phase difference between ribcage expansion and abdomen expansion to detect apneic events and stimulates to alleviate those events. In some embodiments, the upper airway stimulator applies primary stimulation when an apneic event is not detected and secondary stimulation when an apneic event is detected. In some embodiments, the upper airway stimulator applies primary stimulation when the patient is not in an apneic position and secondary stimulation when the patient is in an apneic position.

Abstract: An upper airway stimulator for treating obstructive sleep apnea is described. In some embodiments, the upper airway stimulator monitors the phase difference between ribcage expansion and abdomen expansion to detect apneic events and stimulates to alleviate those events. In some embodiments, the upper airway stimulator applies primary stimulation when an apneic event is not detected and secondary stimulation when an apneic event is detected. In some embodiments, the upper airway stimulator applies primary stimulation when the patient is not in an apneic position and secondary stimulation when the patient is in an apneic position.

Abstract: Cupped forceps are provided. Methods of using a cupped forceps are provided.

Abstract: A connector system for Behind-The-Ear (BTE) hearing devices provides a means to detachably connect a variety of accessories to a sound processor, including batteries, earhooks, telecoils, auxiliary microphones, FM receivers, and input jacks for miscellaneous devices. The present invention provides an efficient and economical sealing connection, eliminating the introduction of sweat, body fluid and other contaminants into the connection area, which otherwise would result in corrosion and eventually disable the connected device. A wiping contact formed by a configuration of cam contacts and a flex circuit with a configuration of corresponding contacts is combined with a rotational engagement mechanism to create a vibration-resistant high contact density connector that is moisture proof when engaged.

Abstract: A network device for implementing a high speed transmission protocol. The network device includes a plurality of high speed modules which are connected by a plurality of high speed links. Each of the plurality of high speed modules implements the high speed transmission protocol and each of the plurality of high speed modules being implemented in an Ethernet ring topology. A medium access control layer in each of the plurality of high speed modules is modified in a manner that is transparent to a switching entity in each of the plurality of high speed modules. The high speed transmission protocol comprises a plurality of aspects including an in-banding messaging mechanism for efficient and responsive traffic management and network operation.

Abstract: A shared memory packet switching device includes: a shared memory providing a shared memory space; an input logic unit associated with at least one receive port, and being operative to determine whether the associated receive port is saturated by determining whether a number of packets received via the associated receive port and currently stored in the shared memory exceeds a drop threshold value; a packet routing control unit operative to determine a destination one of the transmit ports for each of the received data packets; and an output logic unit associated with at least one of the transmit ports, the output logic unit being communicatively coupled with the packet routing control unit, and being operative to determine whether the associated transmit port is congested by determining whether a number of packets currently stored in the shared memory that are to be transmitted via the associated transit port exceeds a congestion threshold value, and also being operative to generate an associated output full

Abstract: A high speed transmission protocol that is implemented in a network device that includes a plurality of modules which are connected by a plurality of high speed links. The protocol includes a transmission link aspect for providing at least one of variable-sized packet based transmission with fixed sized messaging capability and pre-emptive transmission capability and a fabric forwarding aspect supporting at least one of class differentiations for packet flows, a plurality of addressable physical and logical modules, generic multicast forwarding port level indication for physical or logical ports, and explicit parameter for packet-content agnostic fabric operation. The protocol also include a packet processing descriptor aspect for providing at least one of a flexibility for various packet-processing descriptor adaptations and packet processing flow continuity across the network device for system design scalability.

Abstract: Various embodiments are disclosed relating to the processing of a flexible field packet. A technique may include determining a format of a packet, the packet including one or more variable fields and determining an offset value related to a location of at least one of the variable fields in the packet, wherein the offset value is variable and associated with the format of the packet.

Abstract: A connector system for Behind-The-Ear (BTE) hearing devices provides a means to detachably connect a variety of accessories to a sound processor, including batteries, earhooks, telecoils, auxiliary microphones, FM receivers, and input jacks for miscellaneous devices. The present invention provides an efficient and economical sealing connection, eliminating the introduction of sweat, body fluid and other contaminants into the connection area, which otherwise would result in corrosion and eventually disable the connected device. A wiping contact formed by a configuration of cam contacts and a flex circuit with a configuration of corresponding contacts is combined with a rotational engagement mechanism to create a vibration-resistant high contact density connector that is moisture proof when engaged.

Abstract: Various embodiments are disclosed relating to the processing of a flexible field packet. A technique may include determining a format of a packet, the packet including one or more variable fields and determining an offset value related to a location of at least one of the variable fields in the packet, wherein the offset value is variable and associated with the format of the packet.

Abstract: A packet switching fabric includes means forming a data ring, means forming a control ring, and means forming a plurality of data communication network links each having at least one network node coupled thereto. The fabric further includes a plurality of output queuing controlled switching devices coupled together by the data ring means and the control ring means so that the network links can be selectively communicatively coupled. Each of the output queuing controlled switching devices includes control ring processing means operative to develop, transmit and receive control messages to and from adjacent ones of the devices via the control ring means.

Abstract: A communications network switch includes a plurality of network ports for transmitting and receiving packets to and from network nodes via network links, each of the packets having a destination address and a source address, the switch being operative to communicate with at least one trunking network device via at least one trunk formed by a plurality of aggregated network links. The communications network switch provides a method and apparatus for balancing the loading of aggregated network links of the trunk, thereby increasing the data transmission rate through the trunk.

Abstract: A high speed transmission protocol that is implemented in a network device that includes a plurality of modules which are connected by a plurality of high speed links. The protocol includes a transmission link aspect for providing at least one of variable-sized packet based transmission with fixed sized messaging capability and pre-emptive transmission capability and a fabric forwarding aspect supporting at least one of class differentiations for packet flows, a plurality of addressable physical and logical modules, generic multicast forwarding port level indication for physical or logical ports, and explicit parameter for packet-content agnostic fabric operation. The protocol also include a packet processing descriptor aspect for providing at least one of a flexibility for various packet-processing descriptor adaptations and packet processing flow continuity across the network device for system design scalability.

Abstract: A network device for implementing a high speed transmission protocol. The network device includes a plurality of high speed modules which are connected by a plurality of high speed links, each of the plurality of high speed modules implementing the high speed transmission protocol. The network device also includes a plurality of other modules, each of which is connected to an associated one of the plurality of high speed modules implementing the high speed transmission protocol. The high speed transmission protocol retains a core functionality regardless of combinations of the plurality of modules and the high speed transmission protocol includes a plurality of aspects including an in-banding messaging mechanism for efficient and responsive traffic management and network operation. The functionalities of the plurality of high speed modules is extended to the plurality of other modules.

Abstract: A network device for implementing a high speed transmission protocol. The network device includes a plurality of high speed modules which are connected by a plurality of high speed links. Each of the plurality of high speed modules implements the high speed transmission protocol and each of the plurality of high speed modules being implemented in an Ethernet ring topology. A medium access control layer in each of the plurality of high speed modules is modified in a manner that is transparent to a switching entity in each of the plurality of high speed modules. The high speed transmission protocol comprises a plurality of aspects including an in-banding messaging mechanism for efficient and responsive traffic management and network operation.

Abstract: A shared memory packet switching device includes: a shared memory providing a shared memory space; an input logic unit associated with at least one receive port, and being operative to determine whether the associated receive port is saturated by determining whether a number of packets received via the associated receive port and currently stored in the shared memory exceeds a drop threshold value; a packet routing control unit operative to determine a destination one of the transmit ports for each of the received data packets; and an output logic unit associated with at least one of the transmit ports, the output logic unit being communicatively coupled with the packet routing control unit, and being operative to determine whether the associated transmit port is congested by determining whether a number of packets currently stored in the shared memory that are to be transmitted via the associated transit port exceeds a congestion threshold value, and also being operative to generate an associated output full

Abstract: A shared memory packet switching device includes: a shared memory providing a shared memory space; an input logic unit associated with at least one receive port, and being operative to determine whether the associated receive port is saturated by determining whether a number of packets received via the associated receive port and currently stored in the shared memory exceeds a drop threshold value; a packet routing control unit operative to determine a destination one of the transmit ports for each of the received data packets; and an output logic unit associated with at least one of the transmit ports, the output logic unit being communicatively coupled with the packet routing control unit, and being operative to determine whether the associated transmit port is congested by determining whether a number of packets currently stored in the shared memory that are to be transmitted via the associated transit port exceeds a congestion threshold value, and also being operative to generate an associated output full

Abstract: A network device includes a port interface configured to receive a data packet from a data network and to send a processed data packet to an egress port of the plurality of ports, a memory management unit and a search engine configured to perform searches of lookup tables and to return search results to assist in modifying the received data packet to produce the processed data packet. The port interface is configured to assign and attach a pointer to the data packet when received, the memory management unit is configured to store and retrieve the data packet and the attached pointer, and the search engine is configured to perform the searches of the lookup tables using the pointer.

Abstract: A packet modification engine includes receiving means for receiving data packets, packet modification means for modifying the received data packets to produce the processed data packets and sending means for sending the processed data packets. The packet modification means is configured to modify the data packets on a cell basis, through addition, subtraction and substitution of cells of the data packets, where each cell of the cells has a predetermined bit-length.

Abstract: A network switch is disclosed having at least one data port interface for receiving data and at least one link interface configured to transmit the data between the network switch and other network switches. The switch contains a data processor, having a segmented ring with a plurality of dedicated modules designed to process the data connected through that ring. A programmable ring dispatcher dispatches at least a portion of the data along a segmented ring to at least one of the dedicated modules. The data processor also has a command processor for processing commands received from the dedicated modules. The programmable ring dispatcher determines the first dedicated module to receive the portion of the data and that first dedicated module thereafter determines the next destination for the data potion. Because the dedicated modules can be added to or taken out the switch architecture based on the network environment, the switch is scalable and adaptable.