Abstract: A phase-locked loop locks relatively quickly to a pilot tone of the stereo-multiplex signal when a new transmitter is tuned in. The stereo-multiplex signal may be multiplied in a multiplier by the quadrature component of the pilot tone generated by a digital oscillator. The result is a control signal that is provided to a low-pass filter, and the low-pass filtered control signal is provided as a control signal to an oscillator which may include a table of length N and a counter for addressing the table entries. The zero phase angle ?0 may be set by a counter offset n0 by incrementing or decrementing the counter. A table may be utilized having a virtual length N+ which is larger than the length N of the real table. To access the real table, however, the corresponding MSBs of the actual count n(k) are used which match the address space of the real table of length N.

Abstract: A motor vehicle navigation system comprises a position sensor that senses the geographical position of the navigation system and provides a first navigation system position signal indicative thereof. The navigation system system also includes a navigation computing unit that recieves the first navigation system position signal and transmits onto a data bus (i) a first position signal indicative of the position of a trip starting location, (ii) a second position signal indicative of a trip destination location and (iii) the first navigation system position signal. A road map memory device includes map data.

Abstract: An emergency call system is presented, which when an emergency call is initiated, instantaneously retrieves and transmits an identification key using an established communication link with a communication network. Therefore, the emergency call system does not need to unregister from the established communication link and establish a new communication link in order to transmit the identification key. The system includes an emergency call device, which includes a mobile communication device for communicating with the communication network, a regular-use data module storing non-emergency use information, an emergency data module storing emergency use information, such as an identification key, a data retrieving module for retrieving information from the emergency and/or regular-use data modules. When the emergency call device is implemented in a vehicle, the data retrieving module for the regular-use and/or emergency data modules may be in communication with a multimedia device via a local communication network.

Abstract: The invention relates to an electromagnetic driver comprising a soft magnetic core in the form of an E with three legs and a back, an alternating field driver, magnetically coupled to the soft magnetic core, for generating an alternating magnetic field in the soft magnetic core, depending upon a sound signal, a constant field driver magnetically coupled to the soft magnetic core for generation of a constant magnetic field in the soft magnetic core, a soft magnetic element for coupling to the plate of the planar diaphragm loudspeaker, lying opposite the back and magnetically closing the legs across at least one small induction gap, whereby the constant field and the alternating field are asymmetrically superimposed such that a resulting force, or a resulting torque on the soft magnetic element, is proportional to the sound signal.

Abstract: A navigation system for use in a motor vehicle receives starting position data and destination position data and computes driving directions between the starting and destination positions. The navigation system includes a first memory unit that stores a basic navigation database including road map information, and a receiver that receives supplemental navigation data including digital road maps, and provides received supplemental navigation data that is stored in a second memory unit. A navigation computer computes driving directions between the starting position and the destination position using information from the basic navigation database and the received supplemental navigation data, and outputs driving directions for presentation to a user.

Abstract: An equalizer includes at least two first mutually interfering equalizer sections, and at least two second interference-correcting equalizer sections, arranged in series. Each of the second equalizer sections corresponds with one first equalizer section, such that although each corresponding equalizer section has the same center frequency, the second equalizer sections have an equalization response opposite the interference effect, and the gain of the corresponding second equalizer section at the respective common center frequency contains the negative gain of at least one first equalizer section adjacent to the corresponding first equalizer section at the center frequency of the corresponding first equalizer section.

Abstract: A television receiver includes a tuner stage, a selective filter stage connected to the tuner stage, and a intermediate-frequency stage connected to the selective filter stage. A field-strength-detection stage is also provided, which generates a field strength signal proportional to the field strength of the received signal. The selective filter stage includes a transfer function that is modifiable by a control signal derived from the field strength signal.

Abstract: Located on the right and left sides of a housing of an automobile radio for example is one detent spring each projecting from the housing, which spring is retractable to enable insertion of the housing into a mounting slot and which, by rotating a catch, is retractable into the housing. By rotating the catches in the other direction of rotation, the detent springs are again released. Disposed eccentrically on the top side of each catch is a pin for which a guide channel is located in the mounting slot so that the housing may be inserted into the mounting slot only with the detent springs projecting from the housing. After complete insertion of the housing into the mounting slot, the detent springs snap in place against detent edges of the mounting slot to lock the housing in place. To remove the housing from the mounting slot, the detent springs are retracted into the housing by rotating the catch.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for operating a radio reception system, which comprises a plurality of receivers assigned to a common output device, in which one of the receivers is designated as audio receiver and is tuned to a frequency of a radio transmitter, and outputs a signal received from the transmitter to the output device. At least one second receiver is designated as search receiver, and continuously searches its own reception frequency band for a frequency of the same transmitter. The system changes to a frequency of this transmitter, which was found by the search receiver, if the quality of the signal received by the audio receiver falls below a certain limit.

Abstract: A diversity receiver system includes a plurality of radio receivers that each provide a uniquely associated receiver output signal and a uniquely associated receiver control signal indicative of the amount of gain applied by the associated radio receiver to create the uniquely associated receiver output signal. A selection mechanism receives the receiver control signals, and determines which of the radio receivers has applied the smallest gain correction to its associated receiver output signal, and provides a diversity receiver output signal indicative of the receiver output signal associated with the receiver that applied the smallest gain correction.

Abstract: A system and method to identify a sound source among a group of sound sources. The invention matches the acoustic input to a number of signal models, one per source class, and produces a goodness-of-match number for each signal model. The sound source is declared to be of the same class as that of the signal model with the best goodness-of-match if that score is sufficiently high. The data are recorded with a microphone, digitized and transformed into the frequency domain. A signal detector is applied to the transient. A harmonic detection method can be used to determine if the sound source has harmonic characteristics. If at least some part of a transient contains signal of interest, the spectrum of the signal after resealing is compared to a set of signal models, and the input signal's parameters are fitted to the data. The average distortion is calculated to compare patterns with those of sources that used in training the signal models.

Abstract: A digital transcoder system is presented for receiving data bit streams with a first bit rate (R1) and outputting a data bit stream with a second bit rate (R2) which differs from the first bit rate (R1), and in particular is reduced relative thereto. This transcoder system has a decoder device (10) on its input side and a coder device (20) on its output side, the latter consisting of a series circuit of a quantizer (21) for requantizing the data dequantized in the decoder device (10), with a requantization factor (Q2), also with a subsequent VLC coder (22) and an output buffer (23). Establishing the second bit rate (R2) requires that the requantization factor of the quantizer (21) be changed, with reference to macro-blocks, according to the specification of a certain calculational formula.

Abstract: A system for the ergonomic communication of a map portion is presented. The map portion may include map information, map background, and additional information. The system includes an interface control unit that may include a graphics control unit, a processor and a memory. The system may include one or more modules for creating an ergonomic presentation including: a border module that may add the additional information to the representation; an adaptation module for adapting the map information and map background and/or additional information with one another, such as within a maximum color contrast; a scale-dependent module that may adapt the color intensity and width of map information as a function of scale and type; and a smoothing module to increase the quality of the map portion representation. The system may include a method for controlling the representation of a map portion.

Abstract: A door leaf includes a stiff, light structural part that maintains fed-in vibrational energy and, by flexural waves, propagates this energy in at least one active surface perpendicular to its thickness to distribute resonance mode vibration components over at least one surface, which has specified, preferred locations or sites within it for transducer devices, which are affixed on the structural part at one of the locations or sites to set the structural part into vibration and to allow it to resonate, thus creating an acoustic radiator that delivers an acoustic output signal when it vibrates in resonance, the front and/or the rear cover panel of the door leaf being part of the stiff, light structural component. The transducer(s) is/are situated between the cover panels.

Abstract: An interface for transmitting messages between two bus systems includes a receiver device for receiving a message from the first bus system, a classification device for classifying the message received from the first receiver device according to one of several predetermined classes, a translation device for translating the message based on a predetermined rule for each class into a message for transmission on the second bus system, and a transmitter device for transmitting the translated message on the second bus system.

Abstract: The utilization of the capacity of a data transmission system (e.g., a MOST vehicle network) is improved in the event that the operating frequency and channel width of the system do not match the word frequency and word width of the digitized signal. The data words of the digitized signal are decomposed into partial words with a smaller width than that of the channels on which they are transmitted. Consequently, in each individual channel there remains a residual transmission capacity that makes it possible to transmit an identifier for each individual transmitted partial data word. A data sink, connected to the transmission system, uses this identifier to obtain information about the position of the respective partial data word in its original data word. This identifier may be one bit (i.e., a Boolean signal).

Abstract: The sound reproduction of a multichannel sound reproduction system with a plurality of speakers which is connected to the output of an FM stereo receiver is controlled by a control signal derived from the reception quality. Preferably, the control signal from the FM stereo receiver for controlling the stereo and mono components is also employed to control the multichannel sound reproduction system. For example, stereo, pseudo-stereo or mono reproduction are provided in the multichannel sound reproduction system in response to the stereo component within the output signal.

Abstract: A system for use in a motor vehicle includes a wireless receiver that receives, over a wireless communication channel, supplemental information representative of the characteristics of the contents of a playback media, and provides received supplemental information indicative thereof. A playback device receives the received supplemental information and stores the received supplemental information in a non-volatile memory device. The playback unit may generate a request for supplement information in response to and indicative of a playback media inserted into the playback unit. The system may also include a wireless transmitter that receives the request and transmits the received request over the communication channel. In one embodiment, after the data medium has been inserted into the playback unit, the wireless transmitter (e.g.

Abstract: System and method for automatically measuring and monitoring the quality of acoustic data is disclosed. The system also provides suggestions for corrective actions to the system or user. The method monitors the quality of data and provides feedback to the system or user for corrective actions. The quality of data includes a combination of either a signal clipping detector, a microphone ON/OFF detector, an air puff detector, and a low signal-to-noise ratio detector.

Abstract: The invention relates to a sound system for a motor vehicle and to a process for specifying the functional scope of such. The sound system (1) for a motor vehicle comprises a control unit (2), and several input units (3, 3a) for operating the system (1), as well as display units (4) and several units (5, 11) to generate the source data in the form of sound or video data. The sound data are amplified in an amplifier unit (6), and are conducted to several loudspeakers (7). The units are linked to one another via a bus (8) with a ring topology. Both source data and control data are transmitted over the bus. The functional scope of the individual input units (3, 3a) is specified by means of a priority value of the input units (3, 3a). This priority value is stored in the memory (12) of each input unit (3, 3a).