Abstract: A patch panel with pivoting bracket assembly is provided which reduces the tendency for optical fiber patch cords to entangle or snarl in front of the couplings of the patch panel. In a preferred embodiment, the patch panel incorporates a plurality of couplings, with each of the couplings configured to optically communicate with an optical fiber cable. Each of the couplings is moveable between a patching position and a stowed position so that, in the patching position, each of the couplings are configured to receive a patch cord connector in a first direction, thereby allowing the patch cord to optically communicate with an optical fiber cable. In the stowed position, the cables of patch cords engaging the couplings are directed toward the mounting surface in a second direction. Preferably, the first direction and the second direction are oriented toward the mounting surface. A method aspect of the invention is also presented.

Abstract: The present invention provides a connector for terminating an optical fiber. The connector comprises a one-piece housing, a ferrule assembly and an insert. The insert has keys formed thereon that are adapted to mate with keyways formed in the housing. The housing has a first opening formed therein that first receives the ferrule assembly and then the insert and a second opening opposite the first opening. The end of the ferrule assembly that holds the end of the optical fiber protrudes through the second opening. The insert has a flange thereon that has two oppositely located flat surfaces and two oppositely located keys. The keys each have a chamfered surface. The keys and the flat surfaces of the flange provide the flange with a substantially rectangular cross-section. The first opening formed in the housing has a substantially square cross-section.

Abstract: A signal amplification system involves transforming at least one signal to be amplified into at least one transformed signal which is amplified and the resulting amplified transformed signal(s) can be used to produce a version(s) of the at least one original signal. The at least one transformed signal can be produced from the at least one original signal by using the at least one original signal to amplitude and/or angle (phase or frequency) modulate the at least one original signal. After amplification of the at least one transformed signal, the resulting at least one amplified transformed signal is de-modulated to produce a version(s) of the at least one signal. In transforming the at least one original signal to produce the at least one transformed signal, the at least one original signal is transformed into a more desirable form, such as a more power efficient form, for amplification.

Abstract: A non-linear temperature compensating device for optical fiber gratings includes first and second expansion members having different coefficients of thermal expansion. The expansion members are elongated in a direction parallel to the fiber grating and levers are secured to both ends of the expansion members. Each lever has a first end flexibly secured to a respective end of the first expansion member and a middle portion flexibly secured to a respective end of the second expansion member. The other end of each lever is secured to a respective end of the fiber grating through a respective quartz block. The dimensions of the expansion members and the quartz blocks, as well as the materials of the expansion members, are selected to achieve a non-linear temperature response which substantially compensates the non-linear temperature response of the fiber grating. The expansion members, the levers and the fiber grating all lie substantially in a single plane.

Abstract: A connector includes a housing having a test channel, a terminal strip having a portion disposed within the test channel, and a membrane attached to the housing and over one end of the test channel to substantially seal the test channel from outside contaminants before, during and after testing of the connector. The membrane may be affixed to the housing, inserted into the test channel, or formed with the test channel.

Abstract: An assembly that has an insert that fits onto a back plate. The back plate receives a circuit board that covers at least a portion of the insert. A components attaches to the circuit board and to the insert. The insert is made out of a material having a thermal expansion coefficient that is close to the thermal expansion coefficient of the bottom surface of the component, which allows the component to be securely soldered to the insert and therefore to the assembly. Preferably the insert is also made out of a good conductor to provide a good electrical conduction path between the component and the ground plane of the circuit board that contact the insert. The insert either fits into a recessed area in the back plate or attaches to the top of the back plate. In an alternative embodiment, the assembly has a circuit board with a contact opening and a back plate with a raised area that fits into the contact opening. The contact opening exposes a portion of ground plane on the circuit board.

Abstract: A signal amplification system involves decomposing a signal into two or more parts, amplifying the parts and then combining the amplified parts to produce the amplified signal. The decomposition can be done such that the resulting parts have characteristics that are amenable to efficient amplification. For example, decomposition of the signal to be amplified can be done using at least one threshold. The first part of the signal to be amplified can be formed by the portion of the signal within the threshold. As such, because the first part forms a signal with a lower PAR, the first part of the signal can be amplified more efficiently than the original signal. The second part of the signal can be formed by the portion of the original signal beyond the threshold. Because the second part is mostly zero, the second part can also be amplified efficiently, for example with a class C type amplifier which does not dissipate any energy when the input signal is zero.

Abstract: Some mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of high Tc superconductors such as (Ba, Y) cuprates can be substantially improved by the dispersal of an appropriate metal in the superconductive body. For instance, mixing Ag particles with superconductive powder of nominal composition Ba2YCu3O7 and processing the mixture in the conventional manner can produce superconductive bodies having Tc of about 93 K and substantially greater fracture strength and normal state electrical and thermal conductivity than otherwise identical bodies that do not contain Ag particles.

Abstract: An improved robber or solder thieving pad, parallelogram shaped, significantly reduces solder bridging in wave soldered multi leaded through hole or surface mounted components in a printed circuit board for different wave settings. The component leads are either parallel or perpendicular to the solder wave during the soldering process. In one embodiment, the parallelogram shaped solder thieving pad is disposed contiguous or adjacent to the through hole. In another embodiment, the parallelogram shaped solder thieving pad is spaced from a thin annular ring surrounding the through-hole. In still another embodiment, the pad may be linked to the ring by a thin connecting bridge. Dimensions of the solder thieving pad vary according to the component lead size, spacing, and number of rows.

Abstract: Power control mechanisms control signal strength in a mobile wireless communication systems which communicate, at least initially, over different channels. By measuring the Signal-to-Interference ratio in signals received by a receiving station and returning that information to the transmitting station, an indication of appropriate power levels at which to transmit subsequent signals is given.

Abstract: A voice messaging system and method includes a receiver to receive information relating to an incoming telephone call and memory to store the information relating to the incoming call. A processor initiates an outgoing announcing message in response to the incoming call. A voice recorder records in the memory a voice message corresponding to the incoming call. A detector, is operatively associated with the processor, to detect a remote log-in such that the processor is remotely controlled to access a recorded voice message. An indicator visibly or audibly indicates an occurrence of the remote log-in. The processor permits a status of the voice message to be affected in memory while information relating to the voice message and/or information relating to the remote log-in which had affected the voice message is maintained.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for making a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) article dissolves gas into solidifiable material, and reduces pressure on the solidifiable material to form gas bubbles therein while solidifying the solidifiable material to make a matrix with voids therein. The gas bubbles are preferably formed to define voids interconnected with adjacent voids to thereby define a porous matrix. The porous matrix ensures uniform distribution of the CMP slurry for greater polishing uniformity. The method produces a CMP pad, for example, with very uniform porosity throughout its thickness so that polishing remains uniform as the pad is consumed in use. The gas and the solidifiable material may preferably be non-reactive with one another. The gas may comprise at least one inert gas, such as nitrogen or argon, for example. The solidifiable material may be a polymer-forming liquid and at least one of a curing and cross-linking agent mixed therein.

Abstract: An antenna system includes a splitter, which receives a splitter input signal and produces a plurality of splitter output signals. A plurality of amplifiers receive respective ones of the splitter output signals and produce respective amplified outputs. A combiner transforms a plurality of the amplified outputs to an antenna signal. An antenna receives and transmits the antenna signal. A power of the antenna signal is a function of a number of the amplified outputs communicating with the combiner.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for first training and then recognizing speech. The method and apparatus use subband cepstral features to improve the recognition string accuracy rates for speech inputs.

Abstract: A multi-mode optical fiber having an improved refractive index profile is disclosed. The refractive index profile is modified from a conventional by at least one of (i) a step formed in the index profile at the boundary of the core and cladding regions, in combination with a linear correction; (ii) a ripple near the core-cladding boundary, in combination with a linear correction, with or without an index step; and (iii) an annular ridge formed in the index profile of an &agr;-profile with a center dip defect. The invention further relates to a communications system comprising the inventive fiber.

Abstract: Apparatus and process for searching for an area code from an exchange/area code directory and inserting an area code into a dialed telephone number. The inserted area code is based on the three digit exchange prefix of the dialed telephone number. An area code insertion module includes at least one entry comprising an association between an exchange number and an area code. A controller compares the digits corresponding to the exchange of a seven digit dialed telephone number with entries in the exchange/area code directory. The controller adds the resultant area code obtained from the exchange/area code directory together with any other special dialing digits required to dial such a telephone number before the digits of the dialed telephone number. A DTMF generator causes the completed telephone number to be presented to the telephone line and central office. The area code insertion module and/or the exchange/area code directory may be maintained at the customer premises equipment or at the central office.

Abstract: An automated speech recognition system comprises a preprocessor, a speech recognizer, and a task-independent utterance verifier. The task independent utterance verifier employs a first subword acoustic Hidden Markov Model for determining a first likelihood that a speech segment contains a sound corresponding to a speech recognition hypothesis, and a second anti-subword acoustic Hidden Markov Model for determining a second likelihood that a speech segment contains a sound other than one corresponding to the speech recognition hypothesis. In operation, the utterance verifier employs the subword and anti-subword models to produce for each recognized subword in the input speech the first and second likelihoods. The utterance verifier determines a subword verification score as the log of the ratio of the first and second likelihoods.

Abstract: The present invention generally is directed to compositions, products and methods that utilize superabsorbent polymers for flame-retarding. A preferred method includes improving flame-retarding characteristics in products by adding SAPs to the product. Prior to the step of adding the SAPs, the product exhibits a first limiting oxygen index and after the step of adding the SAPs, the product exhibits a second limiting oxygen index, with the second limiting oxygen index being higher than the first limiting oxygen index. Preferably, the SAPs can be pre-loaded with moisture, thereby potentially further increasing the flame-retarding characteristics of the product. In a preferred embodiment, the product is configured as a cable, with the outer jacket of the cable incorporating the SAPs.

Abstract: The invention provides methods and apparatus for implementing a satisfiability algorithm on reconfigurable hardware. An illustrative embodiment is in the form of a parallel-backtrace satisfier which includes clause logic, literal logic and variable logic for implementing logic functions associated with clauses, literals and variables, respectively, of a circuit to be analyzed. The satisfier also includes a controller, e.g., a synchronization unit, for directing the operation of the clause logic, literal logic and variable logic so as to provide parallel backtracing of objectives along a plurality of circuit paths from a primary output of the circuit toward its primary inputs. Enhanced parallelism is implemented in the illustrative embodiment not only by providing the parallel backtracing of the multiple objectives, but also by, e.g., providing concurrent assignments of multiple primary inputs.

Abstract: Data loss is reduced and bandwidth efficiency improved while tuning an optical add/drop device comprising a hitless wavelength-tunable optical filter. The hitless wavelength-tunable optical filter includes a broadband reflective surface and a tunable filter surface, the reflective surface and filter surface positioned adjacent to each other. Hitless tuning of the device is accomplished by changing the point at which an optical beam strikes the filter surface along a constant wavelength channel track whenever the beam is incident to the filter surface region. Realignment to a position associated with a new wavelength channel track is performed with the optical beam incident to the reflective surface region. Repositioning the optical beam to the filter region occurs at a location corresponding to the new wavelength to be added/dropped and subsequent optical beam realignment within the filter region is along the new wavelength channel track.