Zero Crossing Patents (Class 340/12.35)
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Patent number: 8952793Abstract: A bicycle electrical system is provided with a first electric component, a second electric component, and a third electric component. The first electric component includes a first electric power line communication section. The second electric component includes a second electric power line communication section. The third electric component includes a third electric power line communication section. The first and second electric power line communication sections are connected with a first electric power line such that the first and second electric power line communication sections conduct communications via the first electric power line. The second and third electric power line communication sections are connected with a second electric power line such that the second and third electric power line communication sections conduct communications via the second electric power line.Type: GrantFiled: March 15, 2011Date of Patent: February 10, 2015Assignee: Shimaro Inc.Inventors: Taihei Nishihara, Takafumi Suzuki, Shun Kou
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Patent number: 8890663Abstract: In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a circuit coupled to a line, where the circuit may power a device, and where the power is transmitted to the device over the line as a pulse-width modulated signal. The circuit may set a duty cycle of the pulse-width modulated signal in order to transmit a determined power level to the device. The apparatus may vary a frequency of the pulse-width modulated signal to transmit data to the device while the duty cycle of the pulse-width modulated signal is fixed in order to continue to transmit the determined power level to the device. A variation in the frequency of the pulse-width modulated signal may be detectable by the device and represents at least a portion of the data.Type: GrantFiled: April 10, 2013Date of Patent: November 18, 2014Assignee: Redwood Systems, Inc.Inventors: Mark Covaro, Dave Leonard
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Patent number: 8847751Abstract: A first communication apparatus 100 transmits a pilot signal which was generated by a pilot signal generation section 14, at predetermined timing, and detects an unbalance component of a transmission line 300 at the time of pilot signal transmission in an unbalance component detection section 13, and controls a transmission signal in such a manner that an unbalance component is reduced by a transmission control section 12 on the basis of the detected unbalance component.Type: GrantFiled: December 22, 2005Date of Patent: September 30, 2014Assignee: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Fumio Ichihara, Akihiro Yamashita, Hidekazu Matsunobu, Nobutaka Kodama, Masahiro Maki, Tsunehiro Hanada, Yuji Igata, Toshiyuki Wakisaka, Kazuaki Kusune, Mutsuhiko Oishi, Ryota Yukizane
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Patent number: 8836487Abstract: An integrated remote controller and a method of selecting a device controlled thereby are disclosed. The present invention is implemented such that it can store position data of devices to be controlled by the integrated remote controller; recognize devices around the integrated remote controller and displaying the devices; determine as to whether an angular velocity of the integrated remote controller is varied, if the recognized devices are plural; if the angular velocity is varied, sense movement direction of the integrated remote controller based on the angular velocity to search for a device to be controlled by a user; and display a control menu of the device to be controlled by the user.Type: GrantFiled: April 21, 2011Date of Patent: September 16, 2014Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.Inventor: Jin Chul Shin
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Patent number: 8823499Abstract: A power unit includes an AC/DC converter for converting VAC input to DC, a zero cross unit for modulating the AC/DC converter output to facilitate zero crossing detection based on the output, and a high pass filter (HPF) for filtering data signals, where the data signals are transmitted and received on the same medium from which the VAC input is received. A method for providing power and data signals from a single powerline source, including receiving incoming VAC in an external power unit, converting the incoming VAC to DC, modulating the DC in accordance with zero crossings from the incoming VAC, filtering the VAC to isolate high frequency data signals, where the data signals are transmitted and received on a same medium from which the incoming VAC is received, and providing the DC, modulated DC, and data signals to an embedded processing unit capable of processing the data signals.Type: GrantFiled: December 7, 2010Date of Patent: September 2, 2014Assignee: Sigma Designs Israel S.D.I. Ltd.Inventors: Reuven Franco, Uri Weiss, Pablo Omar Sandoval Silva, Mileend Gadkari, Michael Weissman, Amir Kanchuk
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Patent number: 8502649Abstract: Systems and methods convey information from a controller to at least one slave unit using a single wire referenced to an alternating current (AC) power supply. A control signal has a high voltage and a low voltage. The high voltage is greater than a voltage midpoint of the AC power supply and the low voltage is less than the voltage midpoint. The control signal is conveyed through the single wire to each of the at least one slave unit. At each slave unit, a comparison voltage, representative of the voltage midpoint, is generated by dividing substantially midway the potentials between the power lines of the AC power supply and the control signal is compared to the comparison voltage to determine low and high states of the control signal; the low and high states represent the information.Type: GrantFiled: August 29, 2012Date of Patent: August 6, 2013Assignee: Albeo Technologies, Inc.Inventor: Peter Van Laanen
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Patent number: 8427300Abstract: In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a circuit coupled to a line, where the circuit may power a device, and where the power is transmitted to the device over the line as a pulse-width modulated signal. The circuit may set a duty cycle of the pulse-width modulated signal in order to transmit a determined power level to the device. The apparatus may vary a frequency of the pulse-width modulated signal to transmit data to the device while the duty cycle of the pulse-width modulated signal is fixed in order to continue to transmit the determined power level to the device. A variation in the frequency of the pulse-width modulated signal may be detectable by the device and represents at least a portion of the data.Type: GrantFiled: February 20, 2009Date of Patent: April 23, 2013Assignee: Redwood Systems, Inc.Inventors: Mark Covaro, Dave Leonard
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Patent number: 8421614Abstract: A mechanism is provided for providing reliable redundant data communications. The mechanism issues a request for data to a set of powered elements using a set of secondary communication channels in response to a reduction in a level of communications being detected. The set of secondary communication channels comprises one or more alternating current power lines and the request is sent as data injected onto the alternating current power lines to the set of powered elements. The mechanism receives the data using the set of secondary communication channels from the set of powered elements, analyzes the data to determine a set of recovery actions to restore the level of communications, and issues the set of recovery actions to the set of powered elements using the set of secondary communication channels.Type: GrantFiled: September 19, 2007Date of Patent: April 16, 2013Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Brian James Cagno, John Charles Elliott, Kenny Nian Gan Qiu, Donald Scott Smith
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Patent number: 8405488Abstract: A system and method is provided for encoding and decoding control signals to an electronic ballast. An encoding circuit is effective to transmit encoded control signals across an AC power line comprising patterns of energy bursts at zero crossings of an AC signal. Eight zero crossings define a set, five specific patterns of energy bursts within a set define distinct symbols, each defined symbol selected such that a Hamming distance between each symbol is greater than three. Four symbols correspond to a first logic condition and one symbol corresponds to a second logic condition. Each received symbol is sequentially associated with a distinct control channel having one or more control parameters. A receiving circuit in the ballast is effective to decode symbols with single-bit error correction by comparing received symbols to defined symbols and determining which symbol is a smallest Hamming distance from a received symbol.Type: GrantFiled: October 20, 2009Date of Patent: March 26, 2013Assignee: Universal Lighting Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Henry Jacobs, John J. Dernovsek, James Koehler
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Patent number: 8390435Abstract: Power line communication (PLC) systems are presented for connecting dimming switches with electronic ballasts for driving compact fluorescent lamps and other applications using a power distribution network, including a transmitter and a receiver connected in a series circuit for transmission of multi-bit data, where the receiver has a load control circuit for selectively adjusting the receiver loading and to sense current interruptions to provide a data output.Type: GrantFiled: August 7, 2009Date of Patent: March 5, 2013Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: István Maros, Sándor Viktor Szabó
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Patent number: 8284035Abstract: Systems and methods convey information from a controller to at least one slave unit using a single wire referenced to an alternating current (AC) power supply. A control signal has a high voltage and a low voltage. The high voltage is greater than a voltage midpoint of the AC power supply and the low voltage is less than the voltage midpoint. The control signal is conveyed through the single wire to each of the at least one slave unit. At each slave unit, a comparison voltage, representative of the voltage midpoint, is generated by dividing substantially midway the potentials between the power lines of the AC power supply and the control signal is compared to the comparison voltage to determine low and high states of the control signal; the low and high states represent the information.Type: GrantFiled: September 26, 2008Date of Patent: October 9, 2012Assignee: Albeo Technologies, Inc.Inventor: Peter Van Laanen
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Patent number: 8130084Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product are provided for communicating to a powered element in a rack system. A controller injects communication data onto power lines that provides power to a plurality of powered elements. The powered elements determine if the communication data transmitted via the power lines should be used for configuration using an address embedded within the communication data. The powered elements compare an embedded target address within the communication data to the address of the particular element. If there is a match between the addresses, the corresponding powered element processes the communication data to configure the powered element. As a result, data may be communicated over the power lines thereby eliminating the need for separate communication lines. Thus, the amount of cables required to interconnect the powered elements of the distributed data processing system may be reduced by eliminating the communication lines from the system configuration.Type: GrantFiled: April 30, 2007Date of Patent: March 6, 2012Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Brian James Cagno, Kenny Nian Gan Qiu, Donald Scott Smith
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Patent number: 8115606Abstract: A transmitter and a receiver are paired that use the same power line and power module. The transmitter associates an identification number with a command message so that a receiver can ascertain that a command message is intended for the receiver. The transmitter uses the time from the power up to the first zero crossing of the AC signal to generate a matching seed for both transmitter and receiver. The transmitter generates an identification number by incrementing a counter each incremental time interval between power up and the occurrence of the first zero crossing of the AC signal and sends the generated identification number to the paired receiver after power up but before a predetermined time interval. The receiver stores the generated identification number and compares the stored identification number with a received identification number that is received in a subsequent command message.Type: GrantFiled: October 18, 2005Date of Patent: February 14, 2012Assignee: Computime, Ltd.Inventors: Wai-leung Ha, Kairy Kei Lei, David B. Stevens