Abstract: A suppression method that provides adaptive (i.e., selective) processing of an input picture to generate an enhanced output picture with ringing-like areas of the input picture suppressed. For each such window in the input picture, if the window is detected as around a ringing-like area in the picture, then the output pixel for the position of the window comprises the low-pass filtered (i.e., smoothed) pixel in the input picture. However, if the window is not detected as around a ringing-like area (i.e., the window is around a non-ringing-like area) then the output pixel for the position of the window comprises essentially the unchanged window in the input picture. As a result no blurring is introduced into the input picture in areas where ringing-like patterns are not detected. Therefore, the output picture includes portions of the input picture in which ringing-like patterns were not detected, and portions of the input picture with suppressed ringing-like patterns where detected.

Abstract: A simple and compact device permits a single rescuer to quickly place a prone patient's airway in an optimal, open configuration. The device consists of a reversibly collapsed neck support that can rapidly be placed underneath the neck of an unconscious patient lying prone on his back. The collapsed support can be inflated to returned it to a not collapsed state for elevating a portion of the patient's neck. The support is shaped to come to an apex so that the pressure is applied to a restricted region of the neck. When gentle elevating pressure is applied to a small region of the neck, the neck “fulcrums” with the head remaining in contact with the ground and the free portion of the neck being elevated. This results in the optimum extension to open the airway without having to pull on the patient's jaw. Once the airway is open, it is relatively simple to place a tight fitting resuscitation mask over the patient's mouth.

Abstract: The invention is a method and apparatus for delivering large volumes of nitrogen gas, air, or other gas at high pressures from banks of high pressure cylinders and releasing that gas at the rate required by the operation. Not only can higher flow rates be achieved, but the absence of motors or engines can be an advantage in hazardous areas and can increase the reliability of the delivery of the gas. In addition, as compared to using liquid nitrogen, which typically must be delivered from a remote air separation plant, these banks of cylinders can then be recharged with gas by portable compressors or nitrogen generators.

Abstract: A high efficiency radio frequency (RF) power amplifier having dynamically controlled back off is disclosed. The RF input voltage is sampled by an adaptive analog signal processing circuit. The adaptive analog signal processing circuit controls the supply voltage to RF amplifier devices, such as LDMOS devices, which varies the efficiency or back off of the power amplifier. The variable supply voltage in turn varies peak power of the amplifier.

Abstract: A method for providing user interfaces in a first network to a remote access device, the first network including first devices and at least one interface device for communication with the remote access device, the user interfaces for controlling the devices currently connected to the first network. The remote access device establishes communication with the first network via the interface device; the remote access device sends a request to the interface device for accessing the first network; at least one of the first devices in the first network obtains information from one or more of the first devices, the information including device information, and generating a user interface description including at least one reference associated with the device information of each of the one or more first devices; the interface device sends the user interface description to the remote access device; and the remote access device displays a user interface based on the user interface description.

Abstract: A motion compensation method for estimating motion between one image frame and another image frame. Each frame is divided into a number of block, and a match is found for a block of one frame within a search area in another frame. A motion vector is determined that represents the geometrical displacement between the two matched blocks, by determining whether motion estimation is being performed near pattern-like objects in the frames. A new frame is reconstructed by interpolation as a function of the two existing frames based on the motion vector and a degree of being a pattern-like object in a frame.

Abstract: A PZT unimorph actuated, continuous transferred membrane comprises a controllably deformable mirror. The actuators with a 12 ?m stroke at 20V are fabricated as an array, which is designed to meet the unique needs of adaptive optics systems for vision science. What is provided is a deformable mirror with capabilities such a robust construction, low power, compact size and low weight. The actuation principle for deforming a mirror element is based on the piezoelectric unimorph. A voltage applied to the piezoelectric layer induces stress in the longitudinal direction causing the piezoelectric unimorph to deform and push on the portion of the mirror connected to it. The advantage of this approach lies in the fact that generally small strains obtainable from the piezoelectric material at modest voltages are thus translated into large displacements.

Abstract: A system for digitally linearizing the nonlinear behaviour of RF high efficiency amplifiers employing baseband predistortion techniques is disclosed. The system provides additive or multiplicative predistortion of the digital quadrature (I/Q) input signal in order to minimize distortion at the output of the amplifier. The predistorter uses a discrete-time polynomial kernel to model the inverse transfer characteristic of the amplifier, providing separate and simultaneous compensation for nonlinear static distortion, linear dynamic distortion and nonlinear dynamic effects including reactive electrical memory effects. Compensation for higher order reactive and thermal memory effects is embedded in the nonlinear dynamic compensation operation of the predistorter in an IIR filter bank. The digital predistortion system of the invention may provide broadband linearization of highly nonlinear and highly efficient RF amplification circuits including, but not limited to, dynamic load modulation amplifiers.

Abstract: A method and system for detecting slant edge areas in an image comprising a plurality of pixels, and for preventing zigzagged slant edge artifacts in an image detail enhancement process. Image pixels that belong to a slant image edge are detected and gain suppression factors are determined for the detected pixels. The image is detail enhanced while selectively reducing enhancement of the detected image pixels relative to enhancement of other image pixels based on the gain suppression factors.

Abstract: Apparatus for amplifying an input signal having an input signal power includes a power amplifier, which is adapted to amplify an intermediate signal so as to generate an output signal, and which is characterized by a non-linearity. A non-linear filter is coupled to decompose the input signal into a series of input signal components, each such component proportional to a product of the input signal by a respective integer power of the input signal power, and is adapted to filter the signal components responsively to the non-linearity so as to generate the intermediate signal for input to the power amplifier.

Abstract: A video noise reduction system for reducing video noise in a sequence of video frames. In the video noise reduction system, a temporal filter computes multiple temporal average values for the video frames in different temporal directions. A motion detector computes multiple motion signal values for the video frames in different temporal directions. Finally, a control unit selects one of the temporal average values based on the motion signal values as output.

Abstract: A system and method for detecting location and luminance transition range of slant image edge in a digital image. The variance value for the pixels inside a window in the image is calculated, based on which a current pixel is classified. If the current pixel is in a non-edge region, no further checking is needed, otherwise binary pattern data is generated from the pixels inside the window. Then it is determined whether the current pixel is a center pixel in a luminance transition range of a slant edge based on the binary pattern data at the current pixel location and its neighboring binary pattern data. If the current pixel is the center pixel in a luminance transition range of a slant edge, then the length of the luminance transition range of the slant edge is determined.

Abstract: A dielectric ceramic material consisting essentially of a composition of Formula 1 xATiO3(1?x)NdzRe(1?z)AlO3 ??(1) doped with 0.005% to 5% of a dopant selected from the group consisting of: cerium oxide, manganese oxide and mixtures thereof; wherein A may be selected from the group consisting of: Ca, Sr, Mg and mixtures thereof; Re may be selected from a group consisting of La, Sm, Pr, Dy, Er, Gd, Y and mixtures thereof; wherein z is from 0.95 to 0.995; and wherein x is a positive number less than 1.

Abstract: A photoacoustic probe for port wine stain (PWS), burn and melanin depth measurements is comprised of optical fibers for laser light delivery and a piezoelectric element for acoustic detection. The probe induced and measured photoacoustic waves in acryl amide tissue phantoms and PWS skin in vivo. Acoustic waves were denoised using spline wavelet transforms, then deconvolved with the impulse response of the probe to yield initial subsurface pressure distributions in phantoms and skin. The waves were then analyzed for epidermal melanin concentration, using a photoacoustic melanin index (PAMI) related to the amount of laser energy absorbed by melanin. Propagation time of the photoacoustic wave was used to determine the depth of blood perfusion underlying necrotic, burned tissue. Thus, the photoacoustic probe can be used for determining PWS, burn and melanin depth for most patients receiving laser therapy.

Abstract: A global and local statistics controlled noise reduction system in which the video image noise reduction processing is effectively adaptive to both image local structure and global noise level. A noise estimation method provides reliable global noise statistics to the noise reduction system. The noise reduction system dynamically/adaptively configures a local filter for processing each image pixel, and processes the pixel with that local filter. The filtering process of the noise reduction system is controlled by both global and local image statistics that are also computed by the system.

Abstract: Virtual Real Time (VRT) provides high fidelity timing for software simulator environment running in a workstation. VRT is scalable and controllable. VRT provides flight and simulation software synchronization mechanism. This feature guarantees that the causality effect between flight software when interacting with simulated devices is the same as running flight software in a real test-bed environment. VRT provides high-resolution timing, which facilitates monitoring and detection of timing related faults while running the simulation software system on a workstation. VRT is modularized, such that the switchover from virtual clock to real clock is a trivial task. Running the system on a workstation using VRT behaves exactly like a real system, with the added benefits of user controllable features such as start, stop, monitor and time-scale. Performance of systems running with VRT is generally very good, equal to or better than the hardware, as the software runs natively on a faster workstation.