Abstract: A ballast-powered semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) apparatus and related methods are described. The SOA comprises a signal waveguide for guiding an optical signal along a signal path, and further comprises one or more ballast lasers positioned with respect to the signal waveguide such that the optical signal is amplified using energy from the lasing fields of the one or more ballast lasers. The problem of relative intensity noise (RIN) transfer from the ballast lasers into the optical signal is avoided by ensuring that the relaxation oscillation frequency (ROF) of each ballast laser is sufficiently higher than the signal modulation rate such that the RIN spectrum is tolerably low at the signal modulation rate. The ROFs themselves are manipulated by methods including adjustment of excitation current densities within the ballast lasers.

Abstract: An ultrasound information processing system is disclosed in which ultrasound image data is packetized into ultrasound information packets and routed to one or more of a plurality of processors for performing image processing operations on the ultrasound image data, the ultrasound information packets being routed according to entries in a host-programmable routing table. A common distribution bus is coupled between packetizing circuitry and dedicated input buffers corresponding to each processor for distributing the ultrasound information packets, and a common output bus to is used to transfer processed image data from the processors to an output device. The disclosed ultrasound information processing system architecture allows for a high throughput rate for accommodating real-time image processing operations, while also allowing for ready programmability and upgradability.

Abstract: A shielding grid constructed of a radiation absorbing material for use with an array of discreet, non contiguous radiation sensors to protect such sensors from scattered radiation. The sensors each have a radiation sensitive area with a width and a length. In designing the grid a prototile having a prototile width and a prototile length is developed. The prototile width is equal to the radiation sensitive area width divided by an integer and the prototile length is also equal to the radiation sensitive area length divided by an integer. The prototile contains a pinwheel motif of radiation absorbing material contained solely within the prototile that forms a pattern when a plurality of prototiles sufficient to cover the array of discreet sensor are arrayed contiguously. The grid is constructed with the radiation absorbing material in this pattern.

Abstract: A document stream operating system and method is disclosed in which: (1) documents are stored in one or more chronologically ordered streams; (2) the location and nature of file storage is transparent to the user; (3) information is organized as needed instead of at the time the document is created; (4) sophisticated logic is provided for summarizing a large group of related documents at the time a user wants a concise overview; and (5) archiving is automatic. The documents can include text, pictures, animations, software programs or any other type of data.

Abstract: An architecture for facilitating Web-based client-side calendar event scheduling includes a Web Calendar scheduling tool which takes input via either a mouse and/or a keyboard to achieve a) an Internet personal organizer, b) multimedia effects associated with scheduled events, c) an Internet groupware that shares group members' individual schedules, d) an Internet transaction associated with scheduled events, and e) an open platform that supports any Java applet. Users of the Web Calendar can schedule events, associate a special purpose Capplet.TM. with scheduled events, and store them for future reference or public use. It features concurrent Capplet.TM. views running under one of four calendar grids: yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily. The architecture also supports multimedia animation in pop-up windows whose dimensions are defined dynamically by an invocation method. It is an open platform on which any user can create a special purpose applet and run it on the Web Calendar.

Abstract: Disclosed are a method and a system for processing patterns such as oriented patterns, to derive constituents which are more useful than the original patterns. For example, an oriented pattern such as a seismic section can be decomposed into a flow field, which is an estimate of a moving accretion boundary which formed the subsurface layers, and a residual pattern, which is an estimate of layer properties, such as acoustic velocity. Similarly, an oriented pattern such as a chart displaying changes in borehole resistivity with depth along its vertical direction and changes in resistivity with angle around the borehole along its horizontal dimension, can be decomposed into a flow field and a residual pattern, where the flow field is an estimate of a moving accretion boundary and the residual pattern is an estimate of resistivity changes with depth and angle independent of the accretion boundary. The flow field can be mapped onto regular, e.g.

Abstract: Disclosed are an apparatus for and a method of electrophoretically separating particles by electric fields which are transverse to each other, which alternate between respective high and low intensities out of phase with each other at a frequency related to the mass of the particles and which move the particles in an overall direction transverse to the respective directions of the fields. For separating large macromolecules, at least one of the fields preferably has an intensity gradient in a direction transverse to its own. The new arrangement makes it possible to: (1) separate particles (molecules) larger in size than those able to be separated with previously known techniques, (2) carry out separation at higher speed and at better resolution than is possible with previously known techniques, and (3) concurrently separate particles which differ greatly in mass (molecular weight).

Abstract: A spectrum analyzer including a device for analyzing signals whose time duration is short as compared to the normal sampling rate of the spectrum analyzer. A transient signal, or a small portion of any analog signal, is sampled at a sampling rate which is substantially higher than the normal sampling rate of the spectrum analyzer, and the samples are stored in analog form in a storage device such as a charge coupled device acting as an analog delay line. The stores analog samples are then read out at the normal sampling rate of the spectrum analyzer, to form a longer duration signal which can be analyzed by the spectrum analyzer in a conventional manner.