Abstract: A quarter turn latch for joining a cover to a housing of an enclosure enables a technician to lock the enclosure by simply slamming the cover shut. The latch also enables a technician to unlock the enclosure by rotating the shaft by a quarter turn. The latch includes a shaft and a clasp. The shaft includes a head and a tail. The tail includes peripherally alternating sets of longitudinally spaced teeth and tail cam surfaces. Each tooth has a shoulder facing the head of the shaft and a tooth cam surface. The perimeter of a cross section of each tail cam surface is arcuate. The clasp includes pawls. When the tail is inserted into the clasp, each pawl is in contact with the tail cam surface, the tooth cam surface, or the shoulder. The latch prevents unauthorized access to the enclosure by requiring specific tools to rotate the shaft.

Abstract: Enhanced operation is attained for packet networks with a performance management operations system (PMOS) that receives information from network elements concerning loads carries and lost packets, receives threshold and other parameter information for a network management console, performs various calculations on the received information, and develops recommendations for setting of adjustable network elements controls that affect the quality of service that those elements provide. For those network elements that are capable of receiving operation control signals from the PMOS and that the network management console ceded a measure of control to the PMOS, the developed recommendations are converted to control signals that are directly applied by the PMOS to the network elements to control the network elements' operations.

Abstract: The present invention provides a waveguide, a method of manufacture therefore, and an optical communications system including an optical device comprising the waveguide. The waveguide may comprise a substrate, a planar waveguide core located over the substrate and a cladding layer located adjacent the planar waveguide core, the cladding layer comprising a silsesquioxane oligomer.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for generating a pronunciation score by receiving a user phrase intended to conform to a reference phrase and processing the user phrase in accordance with at least one of an articulation-scoring engine, a duration scoring engine and an intonation-scoring engine to derive thereby the pronunciation score.

Abstract: A method of providing at least one restoration path for a primary routing path in a network. The method includes receiving a customer connection request to route information. Costs are assigned for the primary routing path, and the primary routing path is computed based upon the primary routing path costs. A backtracking distance over the primary routing path is determined, and costs for at least one restoration path are assigned. The at least one restoration path may then be computed based upon the at least one restoration path costs.

Abstract: A method for providing peer-to-peer virtual private network (P2P-VPN) services over a network. The method includes identifying subnet and host addresses for each user device requesting participation in a virtual private network (VPN) session. Once the subnet and host addresses are identified, a virtual private host (VPH) is initiated for each user device, where each VPH communicates with each user device via a respective tunnel through the network, thereby enabling secure communications between the user devices.

Abstract: A communication network includes a customer database storing information including a customer identifier and an associated plurality of telephone numbers. The customer database preferably is in communication with both a circuit switch component and a packet switch component using a first protocol. The switch components are further in communication with an error collection computer using a variety of unique protocols. Upon the occurrence of an error in the network, the switch component provides an error message to the error collection computer for analysis. An interconnecting datalink is also provided between the customer database and the error collection computer communicating using a second protocol. This interconnecting datalink allows additional information to be passed without changing the SS7 protocol or the variety of unique protocols from each of the network components.

Abstract: A grayscale morphological erosion operator image processor which operates on images of any size and dimension with a structuring element of any dimension and shape. The present invention performs all 1D erosion operations in the domain by first decomposing an image and structuring element into a series of 1D slices, and then further segmenting the structuring element into a plurality of shorter 1D segments. These segments are processed in parallel using an array of parallel processors. Once the erosion operations are complete, the resulting one dimensional slices are composed into a final eroded image.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods and apparatus for providing access priority in a MAC protocol of a communications system such as, for example, with respect to UMTS RACH. Particularly, the invention introduces several access priority methodologies including: (i) random chip delay access priority (RCDAP); (ii) random backoff based access priority (RBBAP); (iii) variable logical channel based access priority (VLCAP); (iv) UMTS-specific variable logical channel based access priority (VLCAP′); (v) probability based access priority (PBAP); and (vi) retransmission based access priority (REBAP). Each methodology associates some parameter or parameters to access priority classes in order to influence the likelihood of a remote terminal completing a successful access request to a base station.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for packing a data bus by moving ports that are associated with assigned time slots from a first set of time slots to a second set of time slots on the data bus. After all the time slots that can be moved are moved, the remaining time slots are shifted on the data bus resulting in larger contiguous groupings of time slots.

Abstract: An amplifier distortion reduction system detects a plurality of amplitudes corresponding in time within a frequency band of operation. In response to at least one of the plurality of amplitudes, adjustments can be made to components within the frequency band of operation, enabling the amplifier distortion reduction system to adapt to changing operating conditions. In a feed forward embodiment having a carrier cancellation loop and IMD cancellation or distortion cancellation loop, the output of the carrier cancellation loop can be monitored and equalizer adjustments provided to reduce the amplitude of the carrier signal(s) equally over the frequency band of operation. The output of the IMD cancellation loop can be monitored and equalizer adjustments provided to reduce the IMD components equally over the frequency band of operation. Thus, processing circuitry can monitor amplitudes corresponding in time over the frequency band of operation and provide improved performance over the frequency band.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for receiving a gain profile from optical channel monitors (OMONs) and using that gain profile along with additional system parameters received from the OMONs for calculating the needed Raman pump parameters (power and/or wavelength) and adjusting the Raman pumps to those calculated parameters for achieving any pre-determined broadband signal gain or power profile. The calculated Raman pump parameters are scaled to be within a range of predetermined acceptable values.

Abstract: The specification relates to a device and method utilized for packaging voice data (and other delay critical ‘connection’ or ‘flow’ type application data) for point-to-point transport from one Packet Circuit Gateway (PCG) to a second PCG over Label Switching Routers (LSRs) within an Internet Protocol (IP) network; the beneficial aspects of the packaging format being: (i) a reduced overhead requirement when compared to conventional IP telephony due to inclusion of a switching label in lieu of an appended IP header, thereby increasing network bandwidth efficiency, and (ii) the increased transport speed associated with layer two label switching when compared to layer three forwarding.

Abstract: A wireless communication system comprises a base station controller and a base station interface connected to the base station controller by a central optical fiber. The base station interface may include a flexible wavelength router. At least one base station is connected to the base station interface, and the central optical fiber carries at least one communication channel associated with an optical signal having one of a plurality of wavelengths. The base station interface selectively provides a communication path between the base station controller and at least one base station using at least one communication channel.

Abstract: A system and method for polling communication lines in a communication system having a plurality of communication lines and at least one telemetry device coupled to one of the plurality of communication lines. The method comprises the steps of creating a polling signal at the network switch, transmitting the polling signal from the network switch to one of the communication lines and determining whether the one communication line is associated with the telemetry device.

Abstract: A computer operating system that allows legacy applications to be run automatically with quality of service (QoS) guarantees matching required QoS performance levels. In accordance with the invention, files have QoS requirement attributes that can be set-by users. Additionally, users may interpose a requirement broker between a given legacy application and the operating system. The requirement broker may be in the form of a modified version of a library that is dynamically linked with applications at load time. The requirement broker intercepts certain system calls and automatically requests from the system QoS guarantees in accordance with the QoS requirement attributes of the accessed files, whether local or remote.

Abstract: Ensuring integrity of a video buffer verifier (VBV) employed in MPEG-like video encoders is realized by controllably adjusting the bits being drained from a video encoder buffer (eBuff). The number of bits being drained from eBuff is adjusted through feedback to minimize the difference in the bit content of a buffer (mBuff) maintained in a bit-rate controller in the video encoder that models the buffer of a hypothetical decoder, and the bit content of that hypothetical buffer (vBuff). Specifically, this is realized by controllably inhibiting transmission of bits from eBuff during intervals that the value of a prescribed relationship is greater than a predetermined value. In one example, the prescribed relationship is dependent on an instantaneous video encoding rate, an end-to-end delay, the bit content of mBuff and the bit content of eBuff.

Abstract: A coupled data network with a system for registering end systems is disclosed. A foreign network includes a foreign mobile switching center and a foreign base station. The foreign mobile switching center includes a serving registration server, the foreign base station includes a foreign access hub, and the foreign access hub includes a proxy registration agent. A home network includes a home mobile switching center with a home registration server. A first end system subscribes to the home network and operates within the foreign network. The end system includes an end registration agent, the end registration agent being coupled to the proxy registration agent, the proxy registration agent being coupled to the serving registration server, and the serving registration server being coupled to the home registration server.

Abstract: Apparatus for holographic recording of information includes a lens or lens system, referred to here as the “FT lens,” situated in such a way that light from an object beam enters the FT lens after passing through an object, and light leaving the FT lens impinges on a recording medium situated at a Fourier transform plane of the object with respect to the FT lens. Disclosed apparatus includes a phase element effectively juxtaposed with the object, in which the phase element is effective for redistributing object-beam intensity in the Fourier transform plane, and the phase element has a correlation length greater than a maximum pixel side length associated with the object. Disclosed apparatus includes an optical element or optical system, referred to here as a “power optic,” that adds convergence or divergence to the object beam before the object beam enters the FT lens.

Abstract: An optical fiber assembly has a microlens joined to the face of an optical fiber. The microlens is made from a material which, when liquid, adheres to the face. The microlens can have a focal point which defines an optical path between the surface of the microlens and the optical fiber's core. This assembly can be formed by applying liquid such a pre-dispensed droplets of liquid to the optical fiber so that the liquid adheres to the optical fiber as a droplet at the face, and solidifying the droplet to form the microlens. The droplet's shape can be altered as it solidifies.