Abstract: Congestion problems in networks are alleviated with a method that works toward insuring that unused capacity will always exist in elements of a network that are resources which are shared by a plurality of users and which, consequently, can be overloaded. In response to each request to establish a connection over a path in the network, pursuant to a predetermined algorithm the method services the request, declines to service the request, or services the request after dropping an established connection. In one embodiment, when unused capacity on the path is above a first preselected level, all requests are serviced. When unused capacity falls below a second preselected threshold, no requests are serviced. When unused capacity is between the first and second thresholds, an existing data connection is dropped if a requested connection is a voice connection and the number of existing data connections exceeds a preselected threshold.

Abstract: An arrangement is employed where a switching unit that conferences a remote telephone with other telephones pursuant to requests that originate via a digital connection from a site that includes the remote telephone. In one illustrative embodiment, the switching unit is an ISDN telephone coupled to a PBX. The remote telephone is connected to a conference point within the PBX via the PSTN. The requests from the remote site originate from a computer, and the digital connection comprises a packet network. Advantageously, the communication through the packet network is encrypted. Conferencing is initiated and controlled by the computer at the remote site, by communicating with the PBX via the ISDN telephone. In another embodiment the switching unit is adapted to create and maintain a plurality of conference calls, pursuant to control signals arriving at a port of the arrangement that is part of the digital connection.

Abstract: An arrangement where a primary traffic management device includes ports that are connected to a network, and a backup device that is connected to the primary device and also to the network provides effective backup support. When a port of the primary become non-operational, a port of the backup device is enlisted to serve the function of the non-operational port, leaving the remaining port of the primary, as well as all of the processors to continue operating normally, employing whatever data has been accumulated in the primary. The enlisting is accomplished through a Layer 2 switch within the primary device and a Layer 2 switch within the secondary device.

Abstract: Input signals of each frame are encoded by mapping the signals onto a coordinate system dictated by the symbols of the previous frame, and symbols from a constellation are selected based on the results of such mapping. Received signals are detected by preprocessing the signals detected at each antenna with signals detected by the antenna at the immediately previous frame, and then applied to a maximum likelihood detector circuit, followed by an inverse mapping circuit.

Abstract: A training sequence is created for space-time diversity arrangement, having any training sequence length, while limiting the training sequence to a standard constellation. Given a number of channel unknowns that need to be estimated, L, a training sequence can be creates that yields minimum means squared estimation error for lengths Nt=kNPRUS+L?1, for any positive integer k?1, where NPRUS is a selected perfect roots-of-unity sequence (PRUS) of length N. The training sequence is created by concatenating k of the length N perfect roots-of-unity sequences, followed by L?1 initial symbols of that same PRUS. Good training sequences can be created for lengths Nt that cannot be obtained through the above method by concatenating a requisite number of symbols found through an exhaustive search.

Abstract: A system for understanding entries, such as speech, develops a classifier by employing prior knowledge with which a given corpus of training entries is enlarged threefold. A rule is created for each of the labels employed in the classifyier, and the created rules are applied to the given corpus to create a corpus of attachments by appending a weight of ?p(x), or 1??p(x), to labels of entries that meet, or fail to meet, respectively, conditions of the labels' rules, and to also create a corpus of non-attachments by appending a weight of 1??p(x), or ?p(x), to labels of entries that meet, or fail to meet conditions of the labels' rules.

Abstract: A sound-capturing arrangement uses a set of directional microphones that lie approximately on a sphere having a diameter of 0.9 ms sound travel, which approximates the inter-aural time delay. Advantageously, one directional microphone points upward, one directional microphone points downward, and the odd number of microphones are arranged relatively evenly in the horizontal plane. On one embodiment, the signals from the microphones that point upward and downward are combined with the signals of the horizontal microphones before the signals of the horizontal microphones are transmitted or recorded.

Abstract: An arrangement that includes a core with a flaw is effectively made error free with an auxiliary circuit that interacts with input and output leads of the core, which detected occurrence of an input that causes an erroneous output at the core, and modified that output either essentially directly, or through changes in accessible core inputs.

Abstract: An arrangement where a policy manager automatically generates configuration file updates for the routers in the network, as necessary, sends those updates to the appropriate routers, and causes the routers to install the configuration file updates in real-time. The automatic generation of configuration file updates is carried out in response to information that is delivered to the policy manager from a traffic measurement and flow analysis system that replaces the prior art analyzer system. The information that is generated by the traffic measurement and flow analysis system is sensitive to thresholds that the policy manager installs in the traffic measurement and flow analysis system.

Abstract: An SoCs with functionally reconfigurable modules employing the modules to configure circuitry for performing assertion checking. Both at-speed assertion checking as well as continuous single step (CSS) assertion checking is disclosed. Advantageously, the checking of the various cores within the SoC is carried out concurrently, in subsets of the entire set of assertions that need to be checked out. Advantageously, bit extraction and injection is used in CSS assertion checking to permit use of relatively small registers for the assertion checking of each subset of assertions.

Abstract: A method, carried out in an arrangement having a cable that provides programming information to a television monitor as well as telephony service, where call progress information of a telephone call is displayed on the monitor of the television monitor, and the method sends control information upstream, over the cable, in connection with desired information relative to the call progress.

Abstract: An arrangement where connections between a terminal and a switch are effected through a serial connection of shared, overloadable, resources, and where conventionally each of the resources has a given number of communication channels, provides for effective congestion control by converting one or more of the communications channels to one or more groups of enhanced signaling channels. The congestion control is effected by employing the enhanced signaling channels, which can carry audible signals, to determine whether to set up requested calls, based on a preselected congestion control process.

Abstract: An enhanced system is achieved by allowing bookmarks which can specify that the stream of bits that follow corresponds to phonemes and a plurality of prosody information, including duration information, that is specified for times within the duration of the phonemes. Illustratively, such a stream comprises a flag to enable a duration flag, a flag to enable a pitch contour flag, a flag to enable an energy contour flag, a specification of the number of phonemes that follow, and, for each phoneme, one or more sets of specific prosody information that relates to the phoneme, such as a set of pitch values and their durations.

Abstract: Congestion problems in networks are alleviated with a method that works toward insuring that unused capacity will always exist in elements of a network that are resources which are shared by a plurality of users and which, consequently, can be overloaded. In response to each request to establish a connection over a path in the network, pursuant to a predetermined algorithm the method services the request, declines to service the request, or services the request after dropping an established connection. In one embodiment, when unused capacity on the path is above a first preselected level, all requests are serviced. When unused capacity falls below a second preselected threshold, no requests are serviced. When unused capacity is between the first and second thresholds, an existing data connection is dropped if a requested connection is a voice connection and the number of existing data connections exceeds a preselected threshold.

Abstract: An arrangement comprising a master unit and one or more slave units, where the master sends out bursts, at specified intervals, in a frequency hopping manner, with each burst being at a different frequency. The slave responds with acknowledgements, and the signal strengths of the acknowledgments are used to select one or more of the acknowledgments as the signals used for distance, or range, estimation. Advantageously, the durations of the intervals are fairly long during normal operation, and short at times when certain conditions occur, such as loss of communication or when accurate range estimation is required. Also, the slave is adapted to sleep while it is not expecting a burst transmission from the master, thereby saving power. The frequency hopping sequencing is preferably pseudo random, with a different sequencing of the same set of frequencies at different modes of operation.

Abstract: Better reproduction of sound is achieved analyzing audio signals for perceptual soundfield imaging cues, and applying appropriate portions of the audio signal to a directional speaker and to a diffusing speaker, based on the analyzed audio signals. Specifically, the audio signal is applied to a critical band filter bank, and at the higher frequencies a detector detects leading edges in the signal's envelope. Concurrently, the audio signal is applied to a delay element followed by a reconstruction filter bank. The output of each filter in the reconstruction filter bank is applied to a one-input/two-outputs soft switch (single pole, double throw) that is controlled by one or more of the detectors. One output of the switch is applied to a directional speaker, and the other output of the switch is applied to a diffusing speaker.

Abstract: A method executed in a receiver that combines a decoder with an equalizer in a single module, comprising receiving at time k a signal r(k) in the receiver. Selecting as a signal transmitted by a transmitter a signal that minimizes the following equation metric ? j ? ( k ) = ? r ? ( k ) - ? l = L 1 + 1 L 1 ? h _ j ? ( l ) ? s ~ ? ( k - l ) - ? l = L 1 + 1 L + 1 ? h ~ j ? ( l ) ? s ^ ? ( k - l ) ? 2 where {tilde over (h)}j(l) is related to both the transmission channel and to the encoding structure in the transmitter, {tilde over (s)}(k) is a trial symbol specified by a selected trellis transition and ?(k) is a symbol that was previously decided. Applying the selected signal to the decoder to decode received symbols.

Abstract: A packet transmission arrangement maintains a certain minimum bandwidth for a call. When a silence period is detected, the bandwidth that is allocated to the call is reduced. When a speech period is detected, the reduced bandwidth remains in force, unless there is spare capacity, in which case a full measure of bandwidth is allocated to the call.

Abstract: The burden of designing multiple training sequences for systems having multiple transmit antennas, is drastically reduced by employing a single sequence from which the necessary multiple sequences are developed. The single sequence is selected to create sequences that have an impulse-like autocorrelation function and zero cross correlations. A sequence of any desired length Nt can be realized for an arbitrary number of channel taps, L. The created sequences can be restricted to a standard constellation (that is used in transmitting information symbols) so that a common constellation mapper is used for both the information signals and the training sequence. In some applications a a training sequence may be selected so that it is encoded with the same encoder that is used for encoding information symbols. Both block and trellis coding is possible in embodiments that employ this approach.

Abstract: This invention provides interference predictions, suitable for least interference dynamic channel assignment use or other frequency hopping uses by de-coupling the time slot assignment and the frequency hopping pattern assignment. In particular, a least interfered time slot is selected based on an aggregate interference measurement performed across an entire transmission band or a pre-specified range of frequencies in the transmission band. A user is assigned a least interfered time slot and provided an appropriate frequency hopping pattern.