Abstract: Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are increasingly used in illumination applications. To control multiple Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), or any other controllable light source, this document introduces a single-wire multiple-LED power and control system. Specifically, individually controlled LED units are arranged in a series configuration that is driven by a control unit located at the head of the series. Each of the individually controlled LED units may comprise more than one LED that is also individually controllable. The head-end control unit provides both electrical power and control signals down a single wire to drive all of the LED units in the series in a manner that allows each LED unit to be controlled individually or in assigned groups.

Abstract: The present invention introduces an aliased selection system with audible cues to allow a user of a handheld computer system locate a desired item from a list of item. The aliased selection system allows a user to spell out a desired item by activating an input that specifies a subset that containing a next letter. In one embodiment, two different subsets are used: A to M and N to Z. When the user has entered information on enough letters such that the number of possibilities fits entirely on a display screen then a first audible cue is given. The user may enter additional information on until a single list item is uniquely identified. Once a single item is uniquely identified, the system emits a second audible cue that informs the user that a single item has been specified. The aliased selection system allows a user to select a desired item from a list with a single hand and without looking at the display screen. However, the user may shorten the selection process by looking at the display screen.

Abstract: A versatile amplifier circuit for driving a TFT LCD panel is disclosed. The amplifier circuit of the present comprises consists of a complementary input stage, biasing switches, and a rail-to-rail output stage. A signal-transfer switch determines which of two differential amplifiers in the input stage will drive the output stage of the amplifier. A biasing signal precharges a capacitor between the gates of output stage. The rail-to-rail output stage utilizes the precharged capacitor to maintain a voltage required to operate the output stage properly. A polarity signal is used to control the signal-transfer switch. The polarity signal specifies if a lower half of the input stage or an upper half of the input stage is used to drive the output stage of the amplifier circuit. A non-active transistor is kept turned-on above the threshold voltage for quick switching of the output driver. In one embodiment, a coupling capacitor is used between output stage transistors is for this purpose.

Abstract: As Internet packet flow increases, the demand for high speed packet filtering has grown. The present invention introduces several methods for a high-speed rule processing. The methods are geared towards Internet Protocol (IP) packet processing.

Abstract: A system for using machine learning based upon Bayesian inference using a hybrid monte carlo method to create a model for performing integrated circuit layout extraction is disclosed. The system of the present invention has two main phases: model creation and model application. The model creation phase comprises creating one or more extraction models using machine-learning techniques. First, a complex extraction problem is decomposed into smaller simpler extraction problems. Then, each smaller extraction problem is then analyzed to identify a set of physical parameters that fully define the smaller extraction problem. Next, complex mathematical models are created using machine learning techniques for all of the smaller simpler extraction problems.

Abstract: A high-speed parallel pattern searching system is disclosed. The high-speed parallel pattern searching system allows the body of a data packet to be searched for one or more patterns such as a string or a series of strings. These string patterns can be defined by the grammar of regular expressions. In the invention, one or more patterns are loaded into one or more nanocomputers that operate in parallel. A control system then feeds a packet body into the participating nanocomputers such that each participating nanocomputer tests for a match. The various tests performed by the nanocomputers may be combined to perform complex searches. These nanocomputer searches are performed in parallel. Furthermore, several different searches may be combined together using control statements. A combination of these searches engines can be supported such that data is also looked at in parallel.

Abstract: A method and apparatus which enables fast testing of light sensing integrated circuits is disclosed. The integrated circuit is positioned in a test head which includes a light source output providing a flat field light to shine on the light sensing portion of the integrated circuit under test. The light is provided to the light source output through an optical fiber from a light box which includes electronic filtering and shutter operations. Light is provided to the light box through another optical fiber from a precision light source. The operation of the light box, including adjusting filtering characteristics and shutter timing is controlled from a tester which also controls the integrated circuit under test in the test head. A high speed data link couples output signals from the test head to dedicated signal processing circuitry which analyzes the output signals to determine whether the integrated circuit passes or fails testing.

Abstract: A control system for high-speed rule processors used in a gateway system is disclosed. The gateway system employing the current invention can process packets at wire speed by using massive parallel processors, each of the processors operating concurrently and independently. Further, the processing capacities in the gateway system employing the current invention are expandable. The number of packet inspector engines may be increased and all of the engines are connected in a cascade manner. Under the control system, all of the engines operate concurrently and independently and results from each of the engines are collected sequentially through a common data bus. As such the processing speed of packets becomes relatively independent of the complexities and numbers of rules that may be applied to the packets.

Abstract: The present invention introduces a method of quickly extracting the capacitance for interconnect wires in an integrated circuit routed with a non Manhattan architecture. To extract the capacitance a section containing non Manhattan wiring, the present invention proposes an approximation system that approximates the section of non Manhattan wiring with a Manhattan wiring section that has a capacitance per unit length that is generally proportional to the length of the approximated section. The capacitance affect from the approximated Manhattan wiring section is then adjusted with a correction factor.

Abstract: A multi-tiered system for responding to natural language queries is using disclosed. The query resolution system returns zero or more links to content that is relevant to the users query. The present invention for query resolution combines two or more types of natural language query resolution methods, where the knowledge base for each of the methods comes from a single knowledge specification. The various different natural language query resolution methods differ fundamentally in how they match the user query to the web site content. The results of the resolution methods are ranked and all, some, or none of the results of each system may be displayed.

Abstract: A robust external interface for a computer system is disclosed. The robust external interface allows a user to insert or remove external peripherals to the external interface at any time such that the user does not need to carefully follow any scripted procedures. The external interface software detects insertions or removals and acts in an appropriate manner.

Abstract: The present invention introduces methods for implementing gridless non Manhattan architecture for integrated circuits. In one particular embodiment, an integrated circuit layout containing horizontal, vertical, and diagonal interconnect lines is first created. Next, the integrated circuit layout is then compacted. The compacting method first creates groups of horizontal and diagonal interconnect lines sorted by vertical position and groups of vertical and diagonal interconnect lines sorted by horizontal position. The two groups are then compacted in a manner that ensures that a minimum manufacturing line spacing requirement is satisfied.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for an organizer that may receive a cellular portion to form a cellular telephone is provided. An organizer comprises an organizer component, including a microphone. The organizer further includes an area for receiving an additional component. The area is designed to receive a cellular component, and a connection element is designed to mate the microphone in the organizer component with the cellular component, to use the organizer as a part of a cellular telephone.

Abstract: A high-speed rule processing apparatus is disclosed that may be used to implement a wide variety of rule processing tasks such as network address translation, firewall protection, quality of service, IP routing, and/or load balancing. The high-speed rule processor uses an array of compare engines that operate in parallel. Each compare engine includes memory for storing instructions and operands, an arithmetic-logic for performing comparisons, and control circuitry for interpreting the instructions and operands. The results from the array of compare engines is prioritized using a priority encoding system.

Abstract: Semiconductor photo sensor and semiconductor wafer processing designs are disclosed. The disclosed designs provide significantly improved photo sensor performance within the framework of a CMOS process. CMOS compatible fabrication procedures are presented, that enable tailoring of the 3-dimensional doping profile and defect structure within a photo sensor, to optimize light detection efficiency and minimize noise from dark current.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for performing network address translation is disclosed. The method generates statistically unique port number for each outgoing connection. The statistically unique port numbers are formed from a subset of bits from the source node's IP address and a subset of bits from the port number assigned by the source node. The statistically unique port number is used as an index into a table containing connection information. When a statistically unique port number fails to be absolutely unique, the method uses a secondary fallback system that generates a unique port number by using sequential numbering system. The information about the connections using unique port numbers that were generated sequentially is stored in a secondary connection table. The secondary connection table is organized as a Patricia tree.

Abstract: A crypto-ignition process is needed to establish an encrypted communication protocol between two devices connected by an insecure communication link. The present invention introduces a method of creating an identical secret key to two communicating parties is conducted between a thin device and a server computer over an insecure data network. The thin device generally has limited computing power and working memory and the server computer may communicate with a plurality of such thin devices. To ensure the security of the secret key on both sides and reduce traffic in the network, only a pair of public values is exchanged between the thin device and the server computer over the data network. Each side generates its own secret key from a self-generated private value along with the received counterpart's public value according to a commonly used key agreement protocol, such as the Diffie-Hellman key agreement protocol.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a system for transcoding character sets between Internet hosts and thin client devices over data networks. A proxy server is provided as an intermediary between the Internet hosts and the thin client devices, and is informed when a specific character set is preferred by the client device. The client character set preference is communicated to the proxy server prior to the client receiving information from an Internet host. When a communication session is established between one of the Internet hosts and one of the thin client devices, the proxy server performs the character set transcoding if the character sets of the Internet host and the client device are not the same. Apart from any existing techniques, the proxy server handles the task of character set transcoding so as to alleviate the mobile computing devices from performing the transcoding locally.