Abstract: A method of breaking up idle tones in a converter is used for gain scaling and summing of digital input signals. The invention achieves this object by introducing dither. Further, the invention optimizes the dither introduced by adapting the magnitude of the dither based on the value of the feedback gain factor of the converter. By adapting the dither in this way, the output idle channel noise can be essentially constant and independent of the scaling factor of the converter.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for offering wireless telecommunication service. A switch such as an automatic Private Branch Exchange (PBX), equipped to communicate with Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) stations sends ISDN signaling messages to and receives ISDN signaling messages from a protocol converter. The protocol converter, which also communicates with a wireless cell site, converts messages between the ISDN protocol and a protocol for communicating with the wireless cell site. The cell site sets up wireless connections to a mobile station, essentially in its prior art mode, and the PBX sets up connections to the cell site essentially in its prior art ISDN station control mode.

Abstract: A method for designing a wireless telecommunications system having a plurality of cells is provided. In one embodiment of such a method, a call demand per cell is estimated, and a channel demand based thereon is determined on a cell-by-cell basis. The cell-by-cell channel demand is used to provide a reasonably tight upper bound on the number of communication channels required to satisfy the system-wide call demand. It is implicit in the procedure for estimating the upper bound that no mutually "interfering" base stations use the same channel (i.e., frequency). "Cliques" of mutually-interfering base stations or cells are defined. A channel demand is determined for each clique by adding up the channel demand for each cell in the clique. The greatest channel demand of all cliques determines a "maximum clique demand" .omega..sup.d. The upper bound on the number of channels required to satisfy the system-wide call demand is given by the expression: .chi..sup.d .ltoreq.17/12.multidot..omega..sup.

Abstract: For use with a central communications device digitally-coupled to a digital telecommunications network that includes an analog interface having an analog-to-digital converter ("ADC"), a system and method for iteratively determining quantization intervals of the ADC and a modulator/demodulator ("modem") employing the system or the method. The system includes: (1) a signal generator, coupled to an input of the ADC, that generates a sequence of analog signals to be quantized by the ADC to yield resulting symbols for reception into the central communications device and (2) an analyzer, that receives a return signal from the central communications device, the return signal indicating comparisons by the central communications device of the resulting symbols with expected symbols, the comparisons allowing the analyzer to determine threshold values between the quantization intervals of the ADC, the quantization intervals being a function of the threshold values.

Abstract: A process for device fabrication and resist materials that are used in the process are disclosed. The resist material contains a substituted amine-containing component and a polymer. The substituted-amine containing component is either a photoacid generator, or an amine additive to the resist material that also contains a photoacid generator. The resist material contains acid labile groups either pendant to the polymer or to a dissolution inhibitor that is combined with the polymer. The acid labile groups significantly decrease the solubility of the polymer in a solution of aqueous base. A film of the resist material is formed on a substrate and exposed to delineating radiation. The radiation induces a chemical change in the resist material rendering the exposed resist material substantially more soluble in aqueous base solution than the unexposed portion of the resist material.

Abstract: Establishing a plurality of timing paths through a switching network that has a plurality of independent switching units with each switching unit switching one bit of each group of data from a given external data link through the switching network. Each switching unit establishes a path to each of a plurality of port timing units where each port timing unit controls a set of port units. Further, each port timing unit is responsive to timing information received on the plurality of timing paths to utilize the timing information to provide timing to its set of port units. Each port timing unit comprises timing difference detectors with each timing difference detector determining a difference in timing between an individual one of the plurality of timing paths and timing generated by the timing unit. Each of the port timing units is responsive to the difference in timing for adjusting the timing of the port timing unit to agree with the timing of the central timing unit.

Abstract: Dehydroxylated, silica-containing, glass surfaces are known to be at least partially terminated by strained siloxane rings. According to the invention, a surface of this kind is exposed to a selected silane compound or mixture of silane compounds under reaction-promoting conditons. The ensuing reaction results in opening of the strained siloxane rings, and termination of surface atoms by chemical species, such as organic or organosilicon species, having desirable properties. These species can be chosen to provide qualities such as hydrophobicity, or improved coupling to a polymeric coating.

Abstract: A spread spectrum (SS) pilot extraction system clips the RF carriers before the SS pilot is de-spread and the RF carriers are spread. The clipping of the RF carriers raises the noise level in the spectrum. However, the small increase in the in-band noise level is more than offset by the reduction of the in-band RF noise from spreading the clipped carriers. As a result, the reduction in the in-band noise from spreading the clipped carriers expands the detection range of the de-spread pilot. In doing so, the control circuitry can achieve further cancellation of the pilot and the IMD components. Thus, the SS pilot extraction system for feed forward RF amplifiers improves the spread spectrum pilot extraction and detection at the final output coupler to achieve improved pilot and IMD cancellation.

Abstract: The customer performs a search or otherwise defines selected data maintained by the information provider. Once the selected data is identified, the information provider maintains the requested data, typically by maintaining pointers identiying the data, but delays delivery of the requested data until the scheduled delivery time, such as a particular day and time requested by the customer or a non-peak period as determined by the information provider. When the information provider determines that delivery is appropriate, it makes a request for a suppressed ringing connection to a switching system. The switching system responds to the request for connection by creating a suppressed ringing connection where a silent alert tone or digital alert signal is transmitted to the customer premise equipment. The customer premise equipment includes a receiving system that receives one or more tones from the switching system over the suppressed ringing connection and becomes active.

Abstract: Techniques for optimizing decision making apparatus by instrumenting the apparatus and running it on test data which has the characteristics of the data upon which the decision making apparatus is to be used. The information provided by the instruments is then used to reorder the application of the criteria used by the decision making apparatus to the data. The techniques are applied in rule-based system which employs a decision network to evaluate the rules. The decision network is instrumented and the rule-based system is run on the test data. The results returned by the instrumentation are used to determine how to rearrange condition elements in the rules so that the flow of data through the decision network is minimized. The condition elements are then rearranged in that fashion and the modified rule-based system is employed on real data.

Abstract: An electrical connector 60 achieves improved transmission performance by introducing predetermined amounts of compensation between two pairs of conductors that extend from its input terminals to its output terminals along interconnection paths. Electrical signals on one pair of conductors are coupled onto the other pair of conductors in two or more compensation stages that are time delayed with respect to each other. Illustratively, the electrical connector is a modular jack that is adapted to receive a modular plug 20. Associated with the modular plug and the input of the modular jack there exists a known amount of offending crosstalk A.sub.0, which is approximately canceled by the two or more stages of compensating crosstalk. In a first stage, compensating crosstalk A.sub.1 is introduced between the pairs, and it has a first predetermined magnitude and phase at a given frequency. In a second stage, compensating crosstalk A.sub.

Abstract: The present invention is embodied in a method and apparatus for sensing the logic state of a flash memory cell utilizing a current mode sense amplifier circuit that is less susceptible to noise. The sense amplifier consists of a controlled current source with mirroring, an integrator and a comparator. In the sensing phase, a cell with a stored low logic level will cause a first current to flow. The first current will be mirrored by a second current. The second current is integrated and compared against a reference voltage to determine the logic state of the cell. By integrating and comparing the mirrored current, the sense amplifier circuit is less susceptible to spurious signals caused by noise.

Abstract: A method for thermocompression bonding structures together including structures having different coefficients of thermal expansion, for example, thermocompression bonding optical diode arrays or other semiconductor structures to silicon substrates to form electronic or optoelectronic devices. The method includes aligning and contacting the structures to be interconnected, thermocompressing the structures via their contact pad elements at a bonding temperature, establishing an encapsulation temperature, applying an encapsulant material between the bonded structures, and curing the encapsulant material at the encapsulation temperature. Conventional bonding processes, which treat encapsulation as a separate step apart from bonding processes, melt the bonded assembly together and include at least one thermal cycle in which the bonded assembly is cooled to room temperature and then is re-heated to the encapsulation temperature before applying the encapsulant material.

Abstract: A device and method for dynamically tuning a long-period grating of an optical fiber is disclosed. The grating is made tunable by using a controlled strain imposed on the fiber adjacent the grating, wherein the strain comprises an electromechanical force, magnetostrictive force, magnetic force, or a thermally-induced force. An improved optical communication system comprising a dynamically gain-equalized amplifier device, a wavelength feedback device, and the tunable long-period grating device is also disclosed. In the communications system, the grating device is reconfigured to have a desired broadband filtering frequency, thus equalizing the amplifier gain, in response to feedback from the wavelength detector.

Abstract: The call processing capacity of the of a telecommunications network by forming the communication switches forming the network into respective groups of communication switches. The communication switches forming a respective group of switches are fully interconnected to one another and then each of the communications switches forming a respective group is connected at least one other group of telecommunication switches as a way of interconnecting the groups with one another.

Abstract: A protection assembly for connectors is included on a circuit pack to prevent damage caused when a connector is removed while signal power is still being supplied to the circuit pack. More specifically, the protection assembly is disposed on the front side of the circuit pack to prevent access to the connector until signal power is automatically cut off from the circuit pack. In one embodiment, the circuit pack is the type having a lever arrangement capable of causing the circuit pack to engage and disengage the backplane of an equipment frame. When the circuit pack is engaged in the backplane, signal power is supplied through the connector that is accessible, for example, on the face plate of the circuit pack. The protection assembly includes a first shield member mounted on the face plate of the circuit pack in a location adjacent to the connector. The protection assembly further includes a second shield member mounted or otherwise formed on the lever arrangement.

Abstract: A method for reducing signal degradation in a Digital Loop Carrier System by removing signaling information normally embedded continuously in digital information being conveyed over the system. The system remains in this signaling free communication mode until it detects a change in its supervisory condition requiring that it exit from the signaling free communication mode or terminate communication allowing the system to enter an idle mode.

Abstract: A data exploration tool which has a graphical user interface that employs directed graphs to provide histories of the data exploration operations. Nodes in the directed graphs represent operations on data; the edges represent relationships between the operations. One type of the directed graphs is the derivation graph, in which the root of the graph is a node representing a data set and an edge leading from a first node to a second node indicates that the operation represented by the second node is performed on the result of the operation represented by the first node. Operations include query, segmentation, aggregation, and data view operations. A user may edit the derivation graph and may select a node for execution. When that is done, all of the operations represented by the nodes between the root node and the selected node are performed as indicated in the graph. The operations are performed using techniques of lazy evaluation and encachement of results with the nodes.

Abstract: The virtual reality mixed media meeting room functions to provide the user with a visually familiar conference format and conference controls that are intuitive to operate. In particular, the system presents the conference participants with a visual representation of the various communication equipment that is typically present in a conference room and that is available in the virtual reality mixed media conference. The operation of this communication equipment is analogous to that of the physical communication equipment, so the conference participant needs no training to actively and efficiently participate in the virtual reality mixed media conference. The various aspects of the virtual reality conference are presented in a rendering that emulates the physical appearance and presence of the physical participants and communication devices that would be present in a traditional conference room.

Abstract: The device and method according to the present invention permute the order of signals representing information intended for transmission over a communication medium. The signal ordering is permuted prior to or at the time of transmission over the communication medium such that when the information or data is transmitted in the permuted order, it is more tolerant to data corrupting defects, such as a faulty communications line, or events, such as an electromagnetic pulse, that exist or may occur during the communication process.